twelve weeks
by solicitors
Summary: Twelve weeks to finish the challenge. Twelve weeks to fall in love. / He enveloped her body into his and he pulled her close to him, tight and comforting and he was so warm. Warm like the summer and he smelled like the ocean and he smiled like the stars. — lucas/maya AU
1. week 0

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked  
2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of  
3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies  
4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies  
5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
7\. get creative! paint fight  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

Maya stared at the list Riley presented to her curiously. It was printed out on pink paper and seemed to smell like strawberry. "What is this?" she asked her brunette friend. "Why'd you give this to me?"

Riley took a sharp intake of breath and swallowed her saliva. Her hair was curled softly around her face, and she almost towered over her blonde best friend. "Listen, I don't want you to be mad, alright?" she told her. "Just, don't be mad." Maya could feel her eyeballs roll to the back of her head in an exasperated matter.

"This is about Josh, isn't it?"

The friendship bracelet around Riley's wrist shook as she lifted her hands from the side of her body. "Well, yes but—"

Maya groaned, balling up the paper in her hand, and shoving it back to Riley. The paper tumbled out of her hands and she bent over to pick it up, just to give it back to Maya. "I don't want it!" she yelped. "I already told you, I don't want you doing anything related to my breakup with Josh."

Riley's face fell, an unfamiliar frown lacing her features. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she thought. "Well, it _was_ a long time coming. He was a shit-bag."

"Thanks," Maya muttered sarcastically. "Sure does make me feel better."

Riley pulled out her hand from her side and took Maya's bicep, leading her away from the lockers and to a more quiet place, where they could talk in private. Riley kept her hand on her bicep. "Look, I know you don't want me interfering because he's my uncle and you're my best friend and you don't want me to choose. But I already did, and I chose you. And I don't want you lounging around your room all day covered in Dorito dust because my uncle broke your heart."

Riley handed her back the crumpled paper and Maya opened it, looking at it again. "And this is your idea?" she asked her curiously, an eyebrow raised. "Bounce around with some dude in hopes to get over Josh?"

"Well, it's a suggestion," she smiled, moving her body to hold her friend's hand. "I know this breakup has been hard on you, but it's been on hard on me too. I hate seeing you sad."

"That's sweet, Riley. But I'm just not going to do it. There isn't a boy in this school that could help me get over Josh. And even if there was, it's not like I'm interested. Time will do its thing, and I'll get over him eventually."

Riley pursed her lips impatiently. "It's not only that," she whispered to her. "I just don't want you feeling left out while I'm dating Charlie. I know I don't spend as much time with you anymore, and it's _worse_ since Josh broke up with you."

"Over text," Maya added in, a grim look on her face.

"Over text," Riley confirmed. "Yeah, so I just thought that maybe this list could help you. You know, get out of the house. Maybe meet someone new, meet some new friends?" she suggested. She let go of her hand and reached in her purse, looking around for something. Once she grabbed it, she pulled it out another pink paper, folded up crisp and neat. She opened it up and scanned over the words before speaking. "I even wrote up a list of people who could do this with you."

"You can't do it with me?"

Riley shook her head. "I got this off twitter, you know, and these are very rigorous rules. I just copied and pasted them on to Word and printed off a pocket version. It says," she muttered, ambling over to Maya's side to read the text, "opposite gender, and someone you aren't close to."

Maya sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing them with her palms. "You know, this isn't going to help? This isn't how it works, I don't think. Getting over a jackass, I mean."

"Well, you don't know that because you've never tried."

"Well, you wouldn't know either because you've never dated a jackass. All the people you've dated are nice, sweet gentlemen who break up with you in person and with a bouquet of roses. Or something. I've got a long string of jackasses, ending with Josh. And I think it's time I take a break with boys."

Riley scrunched her nose fondly. "I don't claim Josh, he _is_ a jackass. And I don't care what my dad says, I'm on your side, I'll always be on your side," she said to her, grabbing her hands in hers again. "And if you don't want to do this, then okay. Because I just want you to be happy, is all. I just thought this would be a good way to get you out of your house."

Maya tightened her grip on Riley's hand and thought for a moment. "If I do this," she started aimlessly, "you're going to have to supervise, or something. I don't want to get too drawn into this and end up getting hurt, again."

Riley smiled cheekily, bringing up Maya's hand to her chest. "Well, of course!" She then promptly let go of it and the filed through her purse, again, looking for another paper. This one was yellow and laminated, the lettering Times New Roman and 12 font. Barely any space was left between the sentences and the text filled up the whole page.

"Well, you came prepared," Maya noted.

"I _am_ great at convincing people," Riley muttered aimlessly, clearly not paying attention as her eyes shuffled through the words on the paper. "So," she declared, looking up from the paper and smiling with a spark in her eye. "Since I assumed that you would agree, even if it took some convincing, I printed this little paper to help you out. The order is obviously insignificant but the post on twitter said that the bonfire HAD to be last. So I made this list of all the things you could do for the days of the week you choose. I also took the pleasure to find certain days of the week for you to do it since I know your schedule by heart. Tuesday's and Wednesday's seem to work best for you. But of course, you'd have to ask the person who you're doing it with—"

"Riley!" Maya interrupted promptly, snatching the paper out of her hand. "Sweetheart, take a breath."

Riley took a big gulp of air and continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "You'd have to ask the person who you're doing it with." She handed over the yellow paper to Maya and snatched the crinkled paper ball from Maya's hands. Maya's eyes scanned over it quickly.

There was a suggestion for the days at the top, with which order to do them in. In the middle were days and times that would be best for Maya, and also the last day Maya would be eligible to finish if she were going to start today. On the bottom were some of Riley's notes she added in, her phone number (in case she forgot, which she didn't) and her email. A few other things scrambled throughout the paper as well, but Maya didn't bore herself with the details.

"You seem very thorough."

"Of course," Riley smiled. "Those are just some light notes to get you started, an outline of the real thing, if you will. I wasn't sure if you would agree, so I just wrote a little bit, but I'll get on to a more explicit explanation tonight."

Maya held the paper between her forefinger and her thumb, giving Riley a curious look. "You call this a little bit?"

Riley ignored her snark comment, handing her back the once paper ball that was now smoothed out. The rules were printed carefully, and Maya was sure Riley spellchecked it av least six times before actually printing it out. "These are the rules," Riley said. "In case you forgot. I'll reprint it off when I get home tonight and laminate it since you clearly can't help but crinkle it up."

"Great, thanks," Maya muttered sarcastically, looking over the rules again.

"And this," Riley said, fishing something out of her jean pocket. It was that pink paper she had folded up, with the names on it. "These are the names I suggest. Who you do it with, it's all up to you. But, I put check marks next to my favorite ones." Riley bounced on her heels giddily, waiting for Maya to look at the list.

Maya unfolded the paper open, peering at the names. Maya smiled to herself as she read the words, neatly drawn on the paper with Riley's curly handwriting. Each name also had a little comment next to it.

• _Ryan O'Donnell_ \- Okay, so, he's a little bit off-looking! And his hair, not going to lie, sister, needs some work. And some shampoo. But he's sweet, we had chem together.  
• _Eric ?_ \- His last name, a mystery to me. Anytime a teacher calls his name, it's just Eric! Not Eric [insert last name here]! It's weird. Anyway, he's got dimples. Cute!  
• _Jason Zupher_ ✓ - Let me tell you about Jason Zupher! He's got these eyes, super dreamy! And his abs, I've heard rumors. Mmmm. I mean, I'm all Charlie's but if we broke up, let me tell you how fast I'd bounce!  
• _Isaiah Babineaux_ ✓ - Gold check mark, so quick! Holy shit, he's like a chocolate milk angel. He's so funny, and so sweet, too. And his eyes, oh his eyes. AND HIS SMILE! HIS SMILE, MAYA!  
• _Billy Ross **-**_ I would've given him a check if he didn't have such a shitty personality. Maybe don't choose this one.  
• _Brandon The Rebel **-**_ His last name is also a mystery to me. Mysterious, attractive, gold check I tell you! I didn't give him one, though, because his thumb does this weird thing and it GROSSES ME OUT!  
• _Corn Chip Dave_ \- I've just yet realized how many of these guys lack a surname I KNOW! That's crazy. Anyway, he's a sweet guy. Tries to be rebellious but fails. Sad face. :(  
• _Yogi_ \- TBH, I don't know why I've put him on here. He's taken.  
• _Ross Dunn_ ✓ - Let me tell you five things I KNOW about Ross Dunn, he's got a smile that could light up a thousand cities, a laugh that makes your stomach flop, hair that flows in the wind, he smells like summer, and his hands are so BIG! Gold check, for sure.  
• _Justin Flur_ \- He's a bit weird, not going to lie, but he smells nice when he takes a shower!  
• _Lucas Friar_ ✓✓✓✓✓✓ - Did you see that? I put six checks and for good reason, too. The man is a lady machine, he's literally so f*cking hot! Holy shit! Man, he's my MAN dream (besides Charlie, of course). His abs, I've seen them one time. I think, it might've been a dream. Anyway, if it's personally up to me (WHICH IT ISNT! IT'S UP TO YOU, MAYA!), I'd pick this piece of MEAT so quick!

 _Love you so much! Choose wisely! Here are just a few suggestions! XOXO, RM_

"That cowboy jock Lucas?" Maya asked her friend. "The one with the southern accent and the sweet bells and the," her voice dropped a few octaves and turned deeply southern, "good eatin' and wholesome livin' and the natural cornucopia of the earth's bounty?"

Riley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Clearly, you've never talked to him."

Maya scoffed loudly. "And _you_ have?"

Riley snorted. "Uh, _duh_. This list," she said, pointing to the list in Maya's hand, "was carefully thought out and crafted. I didn't just put some random people in a randomizer on the internet. Plus, I gave Lucas six checks. Very important stuff, Maya."

"I see," she breathed out sarcastically. She shoved the paper in her pocket, letting it crinkle up; Riley let a sound out of her throat that sounded something between disgust and annoyance. "I'll sleep on this, but it's time for me to check home. School's been out for awhile, and my mom will probably be wondering where I am."

"Oh come on," Riley cried, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Let's hang out, huh? And we can decide on this together. I'm sure your mom will be fine if you come over, probably much appreciated for you to get out of the house."

Maya shook her head promptly. "No, I need some alone time."

"You always have alone time!" Riley whined, stomping her foot on the ground like a child. They were seniors, and Riley was still as childish as ever.

"Well," Maya shrugged. "I need it now more than ever. I know you'll understand. This whole twelve weeks thing is a lot to think about, and if I sleep on it, I'm sure I'll come up with a decision. I don't want your very _obvious_ bias influencing me."

Riley's smile turned into a frown but she relented, pulling Maya into a tight hug. "I trust that you'll make the right decision," she whispered to her, still tightly holding her.

"Riley, you're strangling me," Maya gasped. Riley pulled away quickly and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, you know how much I love you. Anyway, I should probably get bouncing! I have to study for Calc. You should too, you know. The test is in a week."

"You know me," Maya smiled cheekily. Riley and Maya parted with a kiss on her cheek and Riley bounced out of the room, skipping down the hall. Once Riley was out of her eyesight, Maya pulled the papers from her pocket and looked over them once again. She didn't know what to do, truly. The breakup with Josh was too draining for her to think about another specimen in her life, but just the thought of doing something other than mope around in her room made her toes tingle.

/

"I'm home!" Maya shouted through the open door, collecting her key in the keyhole. Maya heard the familiar rumbling of her mother as she shuffled around the clutter of their apartment. Her head peeked through her bedroom door and Maya smiled cheekily at the sight of her disheveled mother.

"Baby!" Katy yelled happily. She fell over a few papers cluttering around their house but she finally made her way to Maya and gathered her in a huge hug. After she released her, she moved a few strands of stray hair from her face, admiring her softly. "How was today?"

Maya shrugged off her mother's arms, making her way over to their couch and falling over. "As good as the last."

Katy frowned and sat next to her daughter, rubbing her knee in a form of consoling. "It hasn't been getting any better?"

"Not really," Maya frowned sadly, her head falling over to her mother's shoulder. "Everything I see reminds me of him. There's this kid named Jet in my class, and he has the same hair color as Josh. And I couldn't stop thinking about him. God, I hate myself."

"Well, you shouldn't," Katy quickly intervened, moving Maya's head so she could look at her daughter in the eyes. "It isn't your fault that there are still lingering feelings. You loved him, as any normal person would. And you're allowed to still love him. But when he breaks up with you like _that_ , and when he treats you like shit the days following your breakup, it's not okay to go back to him. You can want something, but that doesn't mean you have to act on it."

"I know," Maya groaned, rubbing her eyes. "That doesn't even matter, though, he doesn't even want me. He broke up with me over text, for godsakes. Who stays hung up on someone like _that_?"

Katy sighed and rubbed her hand on Maya's back. "I get it, I do. That was like me with your father." The air suddenly grew silent and Maya closed her eyes tightly. They never talked about her father, Katy rarely brought it up.

"What do you mean?" Maya finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I mean," Katy said, "your father was a real shit. And even after he left, I thought he would come back, I hoped he would, even though my brain told me something different. The brain and the heart are funny things, Maya. And sometimes, it's better to listen to your brain. So what's your brain telling you?"

Maya was silent for a bit longer. "My brain," she finally said, slowly, "is telling me that Josh is a scumbag and he doesn't deserve me."

Katy smiled and her daughter fondly. "Good. I like that answer. Josh doesn't deserve you and he _never_ did. What's your heart telling you?"

The silence hung longer in the air this time. Maya sat up in her seat so her back was parallel to the couch cushion. Her head tilted to the side as if she were thinking. A million and one thoughts were running through her brain. Would she? Could she? Should she? Yes, no, maybe. "Maya, sweetheart?" Katy asked her, snatching Maya's attention away from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Maya shook her head, shaking all of her thoughts away from her head. "Yes, of course, I'm fine. Just thinking is all. What was the question again?"

"Your heart," Katy repeated. "Is your heart telling you something different than your brain?"

"Not really," Maya shook her head. "I'm confused, I think. It's different today."

"How so?" Katy asked her, scooting closer to her daughter as if she were catching all the Hot Gossip in the town like a whine mom.

Maya gulped quickly, her eyes squinting and her eyebrows furrowed. She was looking at her hands intensely, searching for an answer somewhere. "I don't know," she sputtered. "It's all crazy, I think. But Riley insists, so I don't know."

"What are you talking about?"

"Riley knows I'm all hung up over Josh and she saw this post on twitter, and she devised this secret plan to help me get over Josh. It's all crazy, and a bit weird. I don't know what to do." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the papers, handing them to her mother.

Katy looked at them curiously, flipping through them over and over again. Once she finished, she handed Maya the paper with the names on it. "These are the names Riley suggested to do this...twelve week thing with you?"

"Yeah.." Maya laughed. "Now that I think about it, it's super silly. I don't know why I even thought about agreeing to do it with her."

"Oh, no!" Katy yelped quickly. "This is a great idea! It'll help you get out of that cocoon you've been building lately." Maya glared at her mom with daggers, but she simply ignored it. "And, if it doesn't work, at least we'll know you tried. You'll have fun, I'd like to think."

Maya threw her head back on the couch. "I want to do it," she groaned. "But I don't. The part that wants me to do it is half to make Riley happy, half for me. But then there's another half, which isn't mathematically possible but I digress, and it's telling me not to."

"That other half is Josh," Katy said pointedly. "He can't live with the idea of you not loving him."

"Or _I_ can't live the idea of loving someone other than him."

Katy shook her head and pursed her lips together. "That's not right. You love Riley, and you love me, too. Josh wasn't the only factor in your life, and he should never be. And if he made you think that, that's abusive and toxic. So, I think it's for the better, if that is any consolation."

"Thanks, mom," Maya whispered, throwing her arms around her body. "You always know what to say."

"I _am_ your mother."

Maya smiled cheekily, releasing herself from her mother. She looked at the paper in her hand that held all the names Riley suggested, but for some reason, her eyes kept falling to the last name. Lucas Friar, it rang in her head like a bell. Lucas Friar. She's heard stories about him, how he was expelled from his old school in Texas because he beat up a kid so bad he was sent to the hospital. She's seen him in the halls, sometimes. And, really, she wouldn't deny the fact that he was easy on the eyes.

But why the _hell_ would he help her get over a breakup? She barely knew him.

"So, are you going to do it?" Katy pressed.

"I guess so."

/

Maya woke up in the morning with a slight hop in her step. This morning was different than the previous. It seemed a bit more light and the air tasted like sunshine. That's what Riley told her over text, anyway. Something definitely shifted from the time she went to bed to the time she woke up. The idea of the twelve weeks things finally settled within her and it seemed... _real_. She was going to do this, she was.

Riley had texted her relentlessly, asking her every five minutes what her decision was.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:32 AM  
** **seen: 6:33 AM  
** Maya! Maya Maya Maya! What was your decision?

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:36 AM  
** **seen: 6:36 AM  
** Maya! MAYA! Have you made your decision?

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:40 AM  
** **seen: 6:42 AM  
** Did you sleep on it? Did you even sleep? Did you put trickery in your words?

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:43 AM  
** **seen: 6:45 AM  
** STOP IGNORING ME I KNOW YOU'VE READ MY TEXTS IT SAYS YOU'VE READ THEM!

 **from: PEACHES! :*  
** **sent: 6:46 AM  
** **seen: 6:46 AM  
** GOD RILEY! can you chill for like 2 seconds

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:48 AM  
** **seen: 6:49 AM  
** No! [insert a million emojis] I need to KNOW!

 **from: PEACHES! :*  
** **sent** : **6:51 AM  
** **seen: 6:51 AM  
** right. ok then. i'll tell you at school. i have to get ready. meet me my locker at 7:15 plz

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:52 AM  
** **seen: 6:53 AM  
** Yes, of course! Be there or be square! HAHA! Don't be late. And the "plz" is a good sign, no?

Maya showed up at her locker at 7:13, two minutes before schedule. She was nervous, her hands were shaking and grabbing her book bag strap. She didn't even know why she was nervous, just the prospect of doing this had her shaking. But in a good way. At exactly 7:15, Riley popped up around the corner. Her cherry smile lit up the halls and Maya couldn't help but smile fondly at her best friend. She always had a way of making her happy. "There she is!" Riley screeched, bounding down the hall in a dramatic matter. No one paid mind, however, since this was a common occurrence at this point. She wrapped her small friend in a tight hug before releasing her on the ground. "Decisions decisions!"

"Yes, Riley," Maya raised her eyebrows. "I made a decision last night."

"I see that you were early to your locker. I'm catching good vibes all around. Can we play a guessing game?" Maya didn't get a chance to answer. "Too bad, since we're going to play anyway. I'm guessing that you decided to take up the offer I showed you."

Maya tapped her nose. "Ding ding ding!" Riley's face grew quickly with a smile as she jumped up and down.

"Ooh ooh! The master of guessing! And that's not even the best part, the best part is that you're going to do this! Yes, yes yes!"

Maya nodded her head at her friend's silly antics. She would never get enough of her. "Hold your breath," Maya said to her, and Riley did just so. Her eyes widened and she puffed out her cheeks, indicating that she was holding her breath. She didn't mean literally, but, ah, whatever. "It gets better. Not only did I decide to do this...weird little twelve week thing, I also decided on who." Riley's face started to turn purple. "Riley, sweetheart, you can breathe now."

Riley exhaled loudly and took a deep intake of breath. "Oh, good, I thought I was going to pass out. But.. WHAT?"

Maya rolled her eyes. "The point isn't who I chose, but how am I going to convince them to do this with me. It all seems out of the blue, don't you think?"

"That's the thing about this list," Riley said mysteriously, filing through her bag to collect a pink paper that was laminated. Instead of her pretty cursive, it was typed out this time. "I took the pleasure of typing it out." She pointed to all of the names on the list. "Everyone on this list has recently broken up with someone, not including Yogi. I still have no idea why he's even there."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Maya asked her friend, adjusting her bag strap.

"Well _duh_ ," Riley said as if it were obvious. "I took it on myself to help two people at once. I saw no point in just helping _you_ get over a breakup, there're multiple people in this school with a recent separation, other than you, you know."

Maya started to catch on. "You're kidding, right? How would you even know that they broke up with someone recently? Isn't that kind of...stalkerish?"

"Well, no!" Riley gasped, offended. "It's just some basic sleuthing," she rolled her eyes. "Asked around, got some information. I mean, surely you were wondering why I didn't add some of the hottest guys in our grade besides Zay and Lucas? I mean, there were plenty other options. But there would be _no_ reason for them to do this. For someone to be convinced like I convinced you, it's the thought of getting over someone that gets them going."

"So who'd they break up with?"

"I'm not _that_ good at sleuthing," Riley shrugged. "Whoever you pick, I guess that's up for you to find out." A small silence lapsed before Riley finally spoke up again. "So, who was it?"

"Who was what?"

She rolled her eyes, grabbing Maya's shoulders and pivoted her body so she would at look her in the eyes. "Don't be dumb," she said. "Who did you pick?"

"It was all rushed, but I decided upon Lucas. I don't know, he seemed like a better option. And if he didn't want to do it, I guess Zay."

"Ooh!" Riley squealed, clapping her hands together. "This is exciting stuff. Whew, I'm getting a rush just thinking about this! And, remember, Maya. This doesn't have to be romantic. You can just find a nice, new friendship in this. It'll help you, either way."

"I know," she nodded her head squarely. "Now the new challenge is finding this Huckleberry and convincing him to do this shitfest."

The brunette shook her head, looking around the bustling halls as people went to their classes. "Oh, don't call it a shitfest. It'll be exciting."

"The shitfest is convincing him," the blonde one muttered, her eyes scanning the halls. Her eyes caught someone who was tall, tan, and attractive. And she knew _immediately_ that it was Lucas. Shit, she suddenly didn't want to do this. Especially with him. Perhaps she should switch to Zay. Maybe if Maya pretended not to see him, Riley wouldn't see him and—

"Oh, there he is!"

Shit.

Please don't say anything, please don't say anything, chanted in her head.

"Lucas Friar!" Riley yelled from the other side of the hall. His head snapped towards the sound and Maya saw the color of his eyes, green like the sea. Ah, shit. God. Fuck. Dammit. Shit. Lucas looked around confused, trying to find another source for the sound other than Riley since it was a rare occurrence that the leader of the Quirk Balls was calling for Lucas's attention, the most popular guy in the school. And attractive. Shit. Fuck. Dammit. His eyes scanned the area until he finally saw Riley jumping up and down for his attention. So she _was_ calling for him.

He gulped, ambling over to the two girls curiously. "Riley Matthews, isn't it?" he asked the brunette one. Maya could see the curious twinkle in his eye. And not to mention his deep voice, with that slight southern twinge, but not too deep that it was awkward and a turnoff.

"Yep," she smiled, popping the p. "See, my friend over here, Maya Hart, would like to talk to you."

Lucas's eyes snapped away from Riley's and his attention caught Maya's. He was looking at her, taking her in. Her small stature, her blue eyes, her wild blonde hair. "You would?"

Maya didn't know what to say to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation she felt, so she said the first thing that popped into her head. "Yes, you Huckleberry. I'd like to talk."

His eyes widened in surprise at her accusation. Huckleberry, huh? "Huckleberry?" he said in a soft voice, more towards questioning and a chuckle. "That isn't my name, you know."

The country named rolled off her lips naturally as if she had been doing it for awhile. She responded quickly, and with a snark. "Oh, I know. I'll call you what I like." His eyebrows rose, and Maya quickly thought: _shit_. This wasn't the way to convince him to do this crazy twelve week thing. Whatever, she was already in too deep to dig herself out of the nickname hole. But, soon, his lips formed into a soft smile. Yes, that was good.

Riley made a step backward. "I assume this is my cue to be leaving. It's up to you Maya, I believe in you." She turned around swiftly and skipped her way down the hall.

Certainly, the sight in the middle of the hallway was odd. Lucas Friar, head of the school, head of the jocks, and the face of the school talking to Maya Hart, the girl who dates over age boys and rebels and paints. It's why a few kids were looking, but Maya made sure to keep her voice low so no one else but him could hear her.

"You seem to be acquainted with Riley," she stated, looking at the back of her friend's brown hair as she skipped around the hallway merrily.

"We have a few classes together," he confirmed.

She snapped her attention back to him and she had to crane her neck to look at him. He was so _damn_ tall. His eyes were searching hers, she could tell, looking for an answer as to why Maya Hart decided to take the time out of her day to talk to him. It was all very odd.

"Riley is my best friend, she's really relentless. I'm not going into details, but I just lived through a traumatic breakup." Lucas tilted his head, and his eyebrows furrowed. "This all seems very weird and very random, and you can say no if you please, but at least listen."

There was a moment of silence before Lucas spoke up. "I'm listening."

Maya fished through the pocket of her denim jacket, avoiding Lucas' gaze. Whenever he looked at her, her body felt on fire. She was probably just flustered from the attention. Once she finally found what she was looking for, the pink paper she crumpled up at the end of the school day yesterday, she flattened it out to look at it; she could tell he was staring at her. "It's this," she stated, handing him the paper.

"What's this?" he asked her, plucking it out of her hands.

"Riley saw it on twitter, she told me. It's some crazy list that I'm supposed to do with someone of the opposite gender, once a week." Maya also grabbed the yellow laminated paper out of her bag and handed it to Lucas. She decided against giving Lucas the paper with his name on it. "She's very thorough, I don't know. It's a bit crazy, and far-fetched if you ask me."

"I'm confused."

Maya sighed and walked over next to him on his left side. She leaned her body over so it was touching him and her hair fell over his arm as she read the paper he had in his hand. He moved his head to look at her, she could tell because his body shifted; but she ignored it. "You see here," she pointed to the first number. "Hike somewhere you've never hiked," she released her hand from the paper and moved her body a few inches away from him, but they were still breathing the same air. "You and I, together, hiking. Somewhere we've never hiked before."

"What's the value of this?" he asked, but not in a mean type of way. It was sweet and concerning. "I'm... not against this. I just don't understand, where all of this came from."

"This isn't a romantic advance at you if you were wondering," she clarified. His eyebrows knit together. "Listen, I just broke up with someone I thought I loved. And my sources, AKA Riley, told me you broke up with someone too, recently." His eyes widened at that, his eyebrows shooting up. "I'm not going to force you to do any of this because that wouldn't be fun. For anyone. But I've been moping around my house lately, and I'm sick of it. I just want to get out and to make a new friend. And if you broke up with someone, too, I'm sure you would enjoy a new friend as well. I'm not pressing for details, all I know is that you just recently separated with someone."

Lucas ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to say since it was all so sudden. This girl, whom he had never talked to before, called him up in the middle of the hallway and asked him to do this weird twelve week thing. He didn't know what to say; and how did Riley even know that he had broken up with someone? It wasn't anyone in the school, not anyone she knew, at least so he thought.

But there she was, this beautiful girl with blonde hair that sparkled in the dim school lights and eyes as blue as the ocean and it was kind of hard to say no to someone with such a sweet of smile, even if she did call him Huckleberry.

"It's to help us both," she continued. "I think. It'd help me, at least. So what do you say, Quickdraw?"

"Quickdraw?" Lucas sputtered, a light laugh lacing his lips.

"I have a list in my head that I'm ticking off."

Lucas smiled at her fondly, and he couldn't just say _no_. It was rude, and it's not like he wanted to say no. And, she said it wasn't a romantic advance towards him. If it turned out to be something like that, it wouldn't be so bad. And if they became friends, that wouldn't be so bad either; there was nothing wrong with making new friends.

"I'll do it," he mustered up with as much confidence as he could.

"You will?" she asked in a surprised tone, clearly confused. It was like she was expecting him to say no.

Lucas nodded, handing back the papers she gave him. "I'd like to see where this goes." She smiled at him, craning her neck just to see him. "You better not fall in love with me," he joked, a new type of mirth in his eyes.

"Oh, I won't," she joked back, her body swayed delightfully.

How wrong they were.

"Let's do this, cowboy."

* * *

 **the note at the beginning will be at the beginning of each chapter, with each task that theyre going to do or have done bolded. so far, out of the five chapters ive written, this is the shortest. so it's going to be a lengthy story in detail just so you know! review and fave**


	2. week 1

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**  
2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of  
3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies  
4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies  
5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
7\. get creative! paint fight  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **October 2nd - October 8th**_

 **October 1st**

Maya felt her body shake harshly, She groaned loudly, flipping over to her back and squinting at the sight of light. Her hair spewed around her face messily and if she looked above herself, her brunette best friend was jumping on her bed. "Riley," Maya sighed loudly, turning back around on her stomach to shove her face into her pillow. "What the fuck are you doing?" she asked her, but her words came out muffled since her face was stuffed comfortably in her bed.

"Trying to get you up!" she screeched giddily, jumping around her bed aimlessly. "Your bed is like a trampoline, so bouncy."

"Duly noted," Maya groaned, flipping her body over to catch Riley's ankle as she was up in the air. Riley tumbled over dramatically and onto Maya, her arms flailing out everywhere. Riley and Maya laughed for a moment, as Riley lied on top of her, almost crushing her. "Why are you here?" She checked the clock on her nightstand. "It's 7:16 AM. On a Saturday. Why do you like to torture me?"

Riley shrugged, moving her body so she wasn't crushing her small best friend. She lied next to her, their heads touching. "Only because you let me," she muttered mirthfully. "Anyways," she said, getting up after a few moments and tumbling off of her bed. "I didn't come here to torture you, I came here to talk. About...the _thing_."

"The thing?" Maya asked her, clearly confused.

"Yes," Riley raised her eyebrows expectantly, moving her head. Her voice was in a whisper. "The _thing_!"

"What thing? There are _plenty_ of _things_ we could be talking about," Maya stated, moving her body up so her back was lying on her headboard. "Our Calc test next week, what I ate for dinner last night, why you woke me up at 7:16 AM on a weekend."

Riley rolled her eyed, grabbing Maya's elbow and yanking her out of her bed. Maya's head hit the floor harshly and she groaned loudly, lying there on her stomach. "The... twelve-week thing! Are you dumb?"

"Only around you," Maya added sarcastically, slowly getting up. She felt a thumping in her head but she ignored it, wiping off the dust that collected on her shoulder from the fall. "Why did you barge in my room unannounced? I have time before we have to do the hike thing."

"Keep in mind, the hike doesn't have to be first." Riley led Maya to her dresser and threw a few things around her room; she eventually pulled out a cute shirt and some shorts. She threw them Maya's way and fished around in her closet for some shoes. Once she was satisfied with how she was dressed, she began to speak again. "During English, Lucas and I exchanged phone numbers for collaboration on this twelve-week thing, so I called him up."

"I don't like calling this project a twelve-week thing. Can't we think of something else? It doesn't roll off the tongue," Maya stated.

"That's up to you and Lucas, whom I called today," Riley reminded her. "We're meeting at Topanga's. What time is it?" she checked the clock on Maya's nightstand which read 7:32 AM. "Ah, shit. We're already two minutes late. Which doesn't factor in the drive to Topanga's, plus getting you out of your apartment—"

Maya groaned loudly, shaking Riley's shoulders softly. "Can you be calm for a few minutes? It won't matter if we're fifteen minutes late meeting Lucas. I'm sure he hasn't even shown up himself."

"Right," Riley breathed out, shaking her head and hands. "Sorry, just this whole twelve-week thing is giving me the jitters. Which is weird, right? Since you should be getting the jitters because _you're_ doing it."

The blonde rolled her eyes and took Riley's hand in hers, dragging her out of her bedroom. "Trust me," she muttered, "I've gotten weird feelings about this since you mentioned it the other day."

/

Riley pulled up to her mother's cafe and parked in one of the worker's spots, clicking off her seat belt and popping out of the car in a flash. Before Maya could even think about unbuckling her seatbelt, Riley was already by her side, yanking the door open and unbuckling it for her. She all but dragged her out of the car, while Maya stumbled by her side.

"Woah woah woah!" Maya gasped, yanking her elbow away from Riley's grip. "Calm down, jitterbug." She pulled out her phone to check the time; it was 7:46 AM. "See?" she said, shoving her phone to Riley. "We're only fifteen minutes late."

"Sixteen," Riley corrected with a point of her finger. "That's not even the point, what will Lucas think of a girl who isn't punctual? Will your relationship ever work?"

Maya growled in her throat, clearly annoyed. "Well, we'll never get to find out what Lucas thinks because you're wasting our time and making us even _later_!"

"Ahh!" Riley screamed softly. "You're right, sorry." At that, she fluffed her brown hair and straightened her clothes. She grabbed her best friend's hand and led her way into Topanga's cheerfully. Sitting at one of the far right tables was Lucas with a strawberry smoothie, on his phone.

Riley yanked Maya towards him. Once Lucas' eyes caught theirs he smiled, setting down his phone next to his drink. "Sorry we're seventeen minutes late," Riley laughed to herself awkwardly.

"It's alright," Lucas promised with an award winning smile. Lucas' eyes caught Maya's and he smiled widely at her, while she gave him a small lift of her lips. She didn't know what to say, or do, to diffuse the obvious awkwardness in the air. Thanks, Riley.

"Anyway," Maya muttered aimlessly, nearly picking up Riley and setting her down in the seat next to Lucas. Maya chose to sit right across from him, as it would be easier to communicate. "I'm aware Riley called you to talk about this twelve-week thing. She didn't tell me until this morning when she was jumping on my bed."

Riley shook her head, clearing all thoughts from her head. She then leaned over to reach in her bag, which was sitting next to her chair. She fished around for a minute until she finally found what she was looking for. Two packets, with at least ten pieces of paper. She lied the two packets on the table and fished around for a moment more, grabbing some pens, some more paper with text Maya couldn't read because the font was too small.

"What's this?" Maya asked curiously, picking up the packet between her thumb and her forefinger.

"Don't touch that!" Riley snapped harshly, hitting Maya's wrist so Maya would drop the paper.

"Jeez!" Maya yelped, grabbing her wrist in her other hand to rub it in circles. "Okay, crazy lady, I'll wait until you're done."

"Good girl," Riley muttered, shaking her head and throwing some random doo-littles on the table that were stuffed into her handbag. Once she was satisfied with everything, she kicked her purse under her chair and leaned her elbows on the oak table, clasping her hands together. "You may each grab a packet now."

Maya and Lucas both gave a look as if she were crazy. And, perhaps she was. So they each grabbed a packet from the table and they flipped through it aimlessly, reading the small words. Maya had to squint her eyes at some parts, she really wished she had her glasses.

"Those," Riley stated, using her fingers to point at the papers in their hands, "are contracts. Confidentiality agreements, and the like."

The blonde groaned loudly at the thought, and her body slumped back lazily, setting the packet back down on the table. "Do we gotta read the _whole_ thing?" she whined.

"No, but I'll give you a brief overview." Riley inhaled sharply once and began to exhale loudly, her words stumbling out of her mouth. "Basically, what it says in the contracts is that you have to complete the whole ordeal, without bailing out. Except under _extremely_ special circumstances, which I won't go into detail. But the point is, even if one of you guys hate each other halfway through, you gotta finish. If one of you suffer from a broken heart? Nada. It doesn't matter, complete this wholly and once you're done, you can hate each other as much as you want. As well as a confidentiality agreement, explaining that whatever happens between you two is up for you two to share on an _agreement_. If you guys have sex, which I'm sure might happen, it's up to you both to share what you will about the experience. One cannot go around sharing what happened without the other's permission. On another note—"

Maya cut her off with a swipe of her hand in the air. "Riley, take a breath."

So she did, inhaling once again sharply and continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted. "You guys will be doing activities that require spilling secrets, as well as doing inappropriate activities. Sometimes, pictures are involved and you _may_ be getting freaky. Unless you have the other person's explicit permission to release a secret, which you probably won't _since_ it's a secret or a picture, then _don't_. You also need a safe word, if someone feels uncomfortable. Do we have any suggestions?"

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "A safe word? Is this going to get... dangerous?"

Riley laughed, putting her hand over her mouth. "Well, no. Actually, I have no idea. This situation is completely out of my control, it's up to you for you to decide if it's dangerous or not."

"Completely out of your control?" Maya asked sarcastically. "I'm sure all of these papers prove that this is completely out of your control."

"Not now, of course. I'm just gently nudging you into doing it, and then once you don't need your training wheels, I'll let go of your hand. But clearly, you aren't ready for me to do that yet since I'm still basically chaperoning you when you talk to Lucas."

Maya's cheeks heated up in an embarrassed manner. She wasn't wrong, per se, more so.. _blunt_ about it. "He is right here, you know?"

"I know," Riley shrugged. "Anyway, safe word?"

Lucas shook his head, clearing his jumbling thoughts. "I don't know..." Lucas muttered. "Around the horn?"

"What the fuck is an around the horn?" Maya asked him, leaning her body up to look at him. She saw a small glint play in his eyes.

"It's a baseball term, little miss _artsy_ ," he mocked her playfully, leaning over the table slightly to look at her as well.

"Artsy?" she raised her eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be an insult? I'll have you _know_ that I could beat your ass with a paintbrush blindfolded and still make your butt look pretty."

"You'd do that?" he asked her jokingly. "For lil' ol' me?"

"Don't be flattered," she scoffed, suddenly leaning backward to slouch in her seat again. "We need something neutral. Obviously, I don't know baseball terms, nor do you know art terms. Like Picasso, that's a hard one for ya."

"I know Picasso," Lucas laughed at her, leaning back, mimicking her motions. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Orange juice."

"C'mon, there's gotta be something better! Chicken nuggets."

"Gross. A squared plus B squared equals C squared."

"That's too long."

Maya sat in her seat for a moment, thinking about it. Thinking of a neutral safe word was harder than she thought. "Huckleberry Bond," she finally said, nodding her head in a satisfied matter.

"Huckleberry Bond?" Lucas snorted loudly. "And around the horn is bad?"

"It sounds sexual," Riley added, crinkling her nose in disgust.

Maya shrugged and raised her eyebrows, expecting for Lucas to protest. Instead, he raised his hands in defeat and shrugged. "Huckleberry Bond it is."

"Great!" Riley yelled in an excited matter, breaking Lucas and Maya's gaze away from each other and towards her. "Huckleberry Bond is the safe word. It's only for extreme situations when one person steps over the line or makes someone feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Don't use it when you get in a fight and you're begging for the other one to shut up." She grabbed each of their packets and flipped to the seventh page. She grabbed a hi-lighter from the table and hi-lighted a few sentences on each page, then gave it back to them.

Maya's eyes glazed over the text and she mumbled it while she read it. "Don't use it when you get in a fight and you're begging for..." she stopped for a moment, turning to face Riley. "Did you memorize this whole thing?"

She chuckled uncomfortably and set her hi-lighter down. "Yes, but that's not the point. I'm giving you a brief overview."

"How long have you had this planned?" the blonde one asked the tall brunette.

"Ever since Josh broke up with you."

Maya's eyes widened in surprise, setting down the paper. "You've been planning this for _eleven_ weeks?"

"Yes," Riley sighed, rolling her eyes. "Would you expect any less from me? That's not the point, and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of talking to you."

"That's certainly a first," Maya mumbled sarcastically.

"Stop being bitter for two minutes," Riley snapped at her, and then quickly regained her composure. "I may have been planning this for eleven weeks, but I do _not_ intend to hold your hand this whole time." She grabbed an elastic from her wrist and threw her hair up messily. She then looked at Lucas, and then Maya, she stared at her for a moment. "I think I've made everything clear."

She grabbed the two black pens from the table and handed one to Lucas and the other to Maya. She flipped their packets to their final page and pointed at an x with an underline. "Please sign here. Also, print your name above it and put the date to the right."

The pair did just so and then Riley flipped to the third page and wrote the words "Huckleberry Bond" on a line on each of their packets. Once she was done, she stuffed them back into her purse. "I'll make copies for each of you, but I need the original copy for my own purposes." She gathered up everything she had lied out on the table and stuffed them in her purse, save the two pens and two pieces of blue paper with wording on it.

"And what's this?" Maya asked her, sliding the paper over to herself.

"Dates and times that you guys will be the best available. It's Saturday, so starting _tomorrow_ is the first week. You have Sunday through Saturday to decide when you want to do the first activity _and_ do it. And then the second week will be the next Sunday through Saturday. And then the third, and you get the gist."

Maya's hair fell in front of her face as she read the paper, and she tucked it behind her ear so it wouldn't stray. "So.. this week? That's October 2nd tomorrow through the eighth, right?"

"Right," Riley said with a nod of her head. She then threw her bag over her shoulder. "I've got to be places, you know. And I can't afford to be with you every step of the way."

"What?" Maya said suddenly, looking at her best friend curiously. "You don't have anything today."

"Well..." she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth in contemplation. "I could! And that's beside the point," Riley rolled her eyes. "Lucas will give you a ride home."

Before Maya could even think about protesting, Riley bound out the door. Maya groaned loudly, throwing her head back. "Why is she like this?" she coughed, shutting her eyes to drown out the light.

"Yeah," Lucas chuckled, sliding the blue paper towards him as he twirled the pen in his hand. "I have a friend like that. His name is Farkle, he's kind of crazy."

Maya lifted her head up and rubbed her temples, while she grabbed the pen in front of her. "Farkle? I've heard of him. Crazy smart, right?"

"That's the one," Lucas prompted, nodding his head. "Anyway..." he trailed off, looking for the correct words. "I guess we're really doing this thing, huh?"

"If we didn't, Riley would probably chop off your testicles," Maya said to herself and Lucas laughed. "I'm serious, though, she would seriously hurt you. Especially since she's been planning this for eleven weeks."

"So what times are you available?" Lucas asked her under his breath as he scribbled on his paper. Meanwhile, Maya was drawing an intricate flower on the margins.

"Anytime, really," she responded, circling the stem over a few of the words. "Except Thursday's."

"What's on Thursday?"

"None of your business," she responded in a snarky tone, looking up from her paper to look at him in the eyes. "What about you?"

"I'm not available anytime right after school for about three hours. So, like, at 5:30 I'm available after school. And if you don't want me to be stinky, then 6:00."

"That's good," Maya nodded her head. "No girl likes a man stinky."

Lucas smiled fondly at her. "And sometimes Saturday's because I'll be at tournaments, but it really depends on the week."

She nodded her head at him and thought for a moment. "So, no Thursday's or after school until six. And sometimes Saturday's. And I'm assuming our only whole free day is Sunday?"

"I guess so."

"Well, what day do you suggest this week?" she asked him. "And I can't do Wednesday either since my Calc test is on Thursday."

"How about Tuesday?"

Maya sat in her seat, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth in thought. The fact was, she seriously didn't want to do this in the first place. But, she agreed to it anyway due to some great persuading from Riley and her mother, and now there was no way out of it. Perhaps she should just see how the first day goes and she'll decide on what to do from there on out. "Alright," Maya nodded her head. "Tuesday sounds wonderful."

"Are you mocking me?" Lucas laughed.

"Only a little," she shrugged. "You'll pick me up at 6:00, right? Which is a great time, in the middle of New York traffic."

"Of course," he responded. "And what about the place to hike?"

"It's all about trial and error. We'll see when we get there."

Lucas raised his eyebrows in question. "I'm not sure that's how it works."

"Whatever, you big Huckleberry," she yawned loudly, obviously tired from being woken up four hours earlier than she was supposed to. "You gonna take me home or what?"

/

 **October 4th**

Lucas approached Maya in the hallway, swiveling her around by her bicep. Her hair whipped wildly and almost slapped him in the face. A few stares were shot their way in confusion, but they merely ignored them.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she responded with a small smile playing on her lips.

"So," he muttered, shaking his head to break the awkward silence that hung between them. He dropped his hand from her arm and she momentarily missed the warmth but she shook it off quickly. "How has your studying for your Calc test been?"

"As dreadful as ever," she joked. "Riley's got me on this rigorous daily plan that I have to study every day after school. It's a bore."

Lucas gave her a sympathetic look and she smiled. "Anyway, I've been searching up places to go hiking for the past few days." Lucas towered over her, he was a whole foot taller. Maya's neck almost hurt from looking up at him. At least she wasn't looking straight into a hall light since his head blocked the view. "I've come up with a few places to go, but the most promising would be Inwood Hill Park. It's about a forty-five-minute drive there."

Maya's eyebrows shot up surprisingly. She fished her phone out of her pants pocket and checked the time as well as the day. "It's Tuesday already?"

Lucas felt an odd feeling settle over his stomach. He couldn't quite place it, but he found it odd how Maya hadn't even known the day when he had been counting down the hours since he dropped her off at her house.

"Yeah," Lucas responded, nodding his head. He handed her a paper he had in his hand while he held another duplicate copy in his other hand. "I printed off something about Inwood Hill Park if you want to read about it."

Maya smiled, laughing to herself as she looked at the paper. "You're just like Riley," she muttered to herself, her eyes glazing over the paper. Once she finished it, she looked up at him to meet his eyes. "Sounds good. Same time?"

He nodded his head in response. "Six o'clock. See you then?"

She nodded her head and smiled cheekily. With that, she turned her head and walked away to a jittery Riley who was bounding around the halls, probably on a coffee caffeine high.

Lucas turned around as well, attempting to go to his English Lit class when Farkle and Zay both sidestepped so they were in front of him. Lucas jumped in surprised at their sudden appearance of faces but he quickly regained his sense and peered at the two boys curiously. "What's up?"

"Don't _what's up_ us!" Farkle says promptly, stomping his foot near Lucas' foot; Lucas jumped at the sound.

Lucas shook his head in confusion, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You're hooking up with Maya Hart?!" Zay asked him, raising his eyebrows in an expectation for an answer. "And you didn't think you should... you know, tell us?!"

Lucas choked on his words, surprised at the words tumbling out of Zay's mouth. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!"

Lucas gulped down his saliva at the mere thought. She would never, _he_ could never. "No!" Lucas gasped. "What, no! Where did you get that idea?"

Farkle scoffed and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Everyone's been thinking it. We've seen you two talking in the hall. And we heard about a meeting at Topanga's, too. Why didn't you tell us?"

"First of all, there's nothing to tell," Lucas told the two promptly, giving them a stare. "Don't you think I'd tell you who I'm hooking up with? Actually, no, I wouldn't since it's none of your business. But what _is_ happening is definitely not that."

Zay raised his eyebrows in disbelief and gave Lucas a look. "Then why are you two suddenly all buddy-buddy, hmmm?"

Lucas smiled and shook his head. "I'll ask you to refer to Riley Matthews about that."

"That weird-o brunette? Maya's best friend?" Zay asked.

"That's the one," Lucas answered. "It's hard to explain," Lucas began to start but was quickly cut off with the warning bell. "Ah, shit. I've gotta go." He slapped the backs of his best friends. "Talk to Riley about it and I'll see you two later, yeah?"

Zay and Farkle exchanged a curious glance as Lucas bounded down the hall in a dramatic fashion, heading for his class.

/

At promptly six o'clock, Maya heard a knock on her apartment door. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and tugged on her gym shorts, all the while tying her shoe. "Just a moment!" she yelled at the door, patting her shoe in satisfaction once she tied it with a double knot. She ambled down to her door and swung it open, revealing her tall, tan and brunette acquaintance. "When you said six o'clock, you weren't lying."

"Always punctual," Lucas responded. "May I come in?"

Maya nodded her head and opened the door, leaning to the side of her wall to make room for him. Lucas looked around at her apartment, taking everything in. His eyes scanned from the tattered up couch to the unpaid bills piling up on their wooden counter. She suddenly felt very self-conscious of her living space and needed to get Lucas out of there quick. Before she could even think of an idea, Lucas spoke up.

"Your apartment is..." Lucas thought for a moment, collecting the right words.

Maya filled in for him. "Dusty? Old? Messy?"

"Cute," Lucas finally said, turning his head to look at her. Maya had to snap her eyes away from his biceps, which were quite literally _bulging_. "Are you ready to go?" he said while spinning his keys on his finger.

"Yeah," Maya nodded her head, shaking away the thoughts of his biceps away. God, she was so dramatic. Her fingers threaded through her wispy ponytail nervously as she followed Lucas outside of her apartment door; she paid close attention to his back. "How'd you get my address anyway?"

"Riley," Lucas confirmed nonchalantly as if it were a normal occurrence. Which, it was, since Riley always seemed to meddle in any activity. The two walked in silence to his car, which was parked on the East side of her apartment parking lot. Lucas unlocked the car doors and opened up Maya's passenger side for her; she merely rolled her eyes. "Is this what I get for being a gentleman?" he joked.

A small smile found her way on her lips and she shook her head in an exasperated matter as she settled down in her seat. Lucas closed her door and walked over to his side, opening the door and joining her in his car. She noticed how it smelled like pine and cowboy. "It's a great time to drive, y'know, in the middle of rush hour in New York. This is a great idea."

"Hey!" Lucas said defensively, twisting his key in the ignition and the car sprung to life. "You said yourself that no girl likes a man stinky."

After turning out of her apartment complex, Lucas turned on the radio and Maya stared out the window of his car absentmindedly. She watched as the cars drove past her slowly, and sometimes fast, as the traffic built up on the opposite side of the road. She was suddenly thanking her lucky stars that they were going in the opposite direction of traffic.

After a few minutes of silence and music to fill up the void, Maya finally noticed the type of music Lucas chose to put on. Country. Of course.

"What is this?" Maya asked in disgust while she crinkled up her nose at the thought.

"This?" Lucas asked her incredulously. "Only the most classic, Tim McGraw. I didn't know you were so uncultured and uneducated."

Maya laughed to herself and whipped her head to look at Lucas who was staring intently at the road. "Uncultured? I would hardly call country music a culture."

"Well, now that's just rude," Lucas said seriously, although Maya could detect a hint of irony to his words. Surely, he couldn't be serious. "Only _legends_ listen to country music," he said, his eyes crinkling at the thought as he drawled out the word legend. He spared a moment to look at Maya with a smile but quickly turned his attention back to the road. "Are you familiar with T-Swizzle?"

"T-Swizzle?" Maya snorted.

"See, only the countrymen know who T-Swizzle is. Code name for Taylor Swift, of course."

Maya rolled her eyes to the back of her head as Lucas teased her some more. She could see a slight smirk play on the corners of his lips, but his attention never faltered from the road. "I know who Taylor Swift is, you Neanderthal."

"Exactly. But you didn't know who T-Swizzle was. Which is my point, only countrymen know her codename. She was a country singer, originally, did you know that?"

"Really?" Maya asked, a faux tone in play. "Only the real _countrymen_ know who she is."

"Exactly," Lucas responded cheekily. "Therefore, country music is the best music ever created."

"That makes no sense," Maya responded quickly. "But, whatever puts you to sleep at night, cowboy."

A silence quickly ensued between the two as Lucas turned up the volume slightly. Maya crinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue in his direction, all he did was chuckle softly. Afterward, Maya's face fell on her cheek as her forehead pressed against the window. She watched the people bustle by as she felt her thoughts all jumbled in her head.

This was the first time in awhile she had had the courage and the time to collect all of her thoughts since the breakup. She was either all jumbled up in her room, too sad to think, or Riley was doing something to keep her active. Plus, with all of the tests that had come up recently, she had been too occupied.

And, this idea she was doing with Lucas, was completely bat _shit_ crazy. She was going to be spending a lot of her time with a random stranger that she had seen in the hallway once or twice for the next twelve weeks. And that didn't even account all the planning in between, which surprisingly, took a lot of work. And that didn't even include all of the random shit she would be thrown into by Riley.

And, on top of that, there were all of the awkward conversations destined to ensue between the two. They were to play twenty questions, at one point, as well as some weird picture thing. And they were maybe going to do something illegal, Maya didn't dread on the details too much.

The whole thought and idea came pounding on Maya like a bunch of rocks as if she were getting stoned with her thoughts. And, perhaps she was too engrossed in her thoughts that her eyes didn't pay attention to the obvious change of scenery a whole thirty minutes later. The jolt came to her suddenly as Lucas turned and parked into a spot, turning off the engine and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"We're here already?" Maya asked in a surprised tone, looking up at the park. Her eyes scanned the area and she noticed a few people with dogs, a couple of families, and some couples as well. She didn't think anyone like her and Lucas were there as well, the roughly acquainted kind. She suddenly got the jitters.

"Yeah," Lucas said, running around the car to open her door. "I thought you were asleep since you neglected to answer any of my questions. Either that or you're just another one of those rude New Yorkers that only look out for themselves."

"That's sweet," Maya said haughtily, giving the country boy a glare. "But I _am_ one of those New Yorkers, Hop-A-Long. And so is everyone else here, and soon enough, you'll be too."

"Riley's not," Lucas stated with a raised brow.

"Riley is special," Maya responded quickly. "Don't think you're let free from the New Yorker rudeness because you're a cowboy from the countryside. The harshness here can change anyone."

Lucas looked at her for a moment, but Maya couldn't read his thoughts. Instead, Maya unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind her as she grabbed Lucas' wrist to drag him to the hiking course.

Once she finally dragged him to their destination, she peered deep into the trail and through the trees. It was dark, but a few spots of light shined through the canopy of the treetops. Maya whipped her head around to look at Lucas, her hair swiftly following her. "This the place?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he responded nodding his head, squinting slightly to look at the trail. "You ready?" he questioned her as he stepped onto the mushy brown leaves and led himself into the darkness of the trail.

Maya followed by his side instead of responding and her eyes widened slightly at the sight. The sun was starting to set and the air began to grow cold and Maya suddenly regretted not bring a slight sweater. She ignored the goosebumps and shivers, however, as she peered around her, noticing the birds flutter throughout the trees and the orange sky that peeked through the tops of the trees.

"Have you ever been on a hike?" Lucas asked Maya as he held her waist to help hoist her up a slight jump in the trail.

Maya shook her head at the thought, as Lucas released her and hoisted himself up by himself. "Never really had the thought, nor did I really care."

"Back in Texas—"

Maya snorted before Lucas could finish his sentence. He gave her a glare full of heat her way before continuing. "Back in Texas, I went on a hike every day if I could. The sights there are amazing and breathtaking. I'd take you some time if you'd like."

"To Texas?" Maya asked him, a small laugh in her breath. "Sure Huckleberry."

The sights were breathtaking, but they didn't capture her attention enough from the bitter cold. She forgot for a few moments that she lived in New York, which started snowing during November. Her cheeks turned a rosy red and she rubbed her arms as her teeth chattered. Lucas noticed this a few moments later when he looked at her and he rolled his eyes. "Tell me you didn't forget a jacket."

"Then I won't tell you."

Lucas sighed and pulled off his sweatshirt and gave it to the small chattering girl. "What're you doing?" she asked with a slight slur.

"This'll be no fun for the both of us if you're cold. Just take the sweater."

Maya rolled her eyes but took the sweatshirt anyway. She pulled it over her head and let the warm sweater entrap her body. It was still warm from his body heat and she almost breathed in the scent but she stopped herself. She was suddenly thankful Lucas was such a country gentleman, because if this were a normal date with any other boy in New York, they'd let her freeze on her ass. And if she were to go on a hike with Riley, she wouldn't even forget about it in the first place.

She suddenly wished that the New York harshness wouldn't affect Lucas. But it was bound to happen anyway, so Maya ignored the thought.

Lucas looked at her as she wrapped herself around in his jacket. The jacket was much too big for her small stature and height, so it nearly consumed her. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and Lucas couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Hey!" Maya chastised him, hitting his jacket sleeve on him. Lucas laughed at her some more, under his breath, and she rolled her eyes. She pulled the hoodie over her eyes a bit more and continued next to him on the trail. Their body's bumped into each other occasionally, but she paid no mind to it. She was more invested in the colors of the sky and the mush of the floor. Once they reached a slight peak in the mountain, Lucas grabbed Maya's bicep and turned her to face him.

"Hmmm?" she asked absent-minded, looking around at the forest.

"Look," he said, pointing up to the horizon. The sun was delving deeply into the line of the trees and buildings and for that moment, Maya forgot that she lived in New York. The clouds shined a sparkling color of red and sky turned orange. Maya was completely entrapped in the sight, her arms slipped from her hold in front of her chest as she stared at the sky, her mouth agape. She couldn't even _think_ of painting a sight so beautiful as her head turned, catching the colors and the clouds and the sun.

"I wonder what a Texas sunset looks like," she whispered to him, but more to herself. Just the thought of seeing something again like this had her giddy, and the next time she were to go out somewhere to see the sight, she'd want to bring her paints just in case she could try to capture it. "I never really paid attention to the sunset until now, I wish I would've."

Lucas turned his head away from the sky and looked at the small blonde girl, who was wrapped up in his too big sweatshirt. Her cheeks were heated and her eyes focused and her mouth open at the sight. Her hair poked out of her ponytail wildly and Lucas smiled. There she was, the Maya he would want to know.

After the sun finally set and the sky turned a bit darker, Maya's eyes were still grazing the horizon. "Are you ready to go back?"

Maya stayed in her spot for a moment before slowly nodding her head. She turned back to him slowly and smiled widely. "That was beautiful."

"Sure was," he said back to her, mirroring her smile in the same matter. And with that, she turned on her heel and led the way back to the beginning of the trail. Lucas caught up with her and she felt the heat of his side next to hers. "What about the next time? The next thing to do, I mean."

"Well," she said, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth in contemplation as she stared at the ground. "We can check this off, of course. And let's just think about the now, and not the next or later. If we focus on what's happening now, then you won't be worried about the future."

"We'll just wing it?" he asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "I suppose. The rest of the tasks don't require too much thought. What was it again?"

"Listen to an entire album neither one of us have heard of," he confirmed.

She raised her eyebrows and a slight smile played on her lips. She stopped in the middle of the trail and he followed, as they stared at each other to have a conversation. "You better not suggest country music."

"Of course not," he snorted. "I've listened to every country music album ever."

"You have?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's certainly an achievement."

"And you?" he asked her. "I'm assuming you've listened to every 80s band ever."

She smiled apologetically and shrugged her shoulders in a matter of defeat. She started to walk ahead on the trail again as Lucas caught up with her. "I guess we'll just have to find something new. Isn't that the whole point?"

"I guess so."

"And," Maya continued, squinting her eyes to stare through the dark trees. "Riley will probably suggest her teeny-bopper songs or something. She always has something planned." Maya turned to face him, her eyes caught off guard the trail for only a moment. She was about to spit out something witty before her foot caught under a tree root and she fell over dramatically, taking all of her weight with her. Her blonde wisps of hair fell behind her head and onto the wet leaves as she grunted. "God," she groaned.

"How did I not see this coming?" Lucas joked, squatting down to her size to become face level with her. "Are you hurt?"

She lifted her head slightly to look at her left ankle that was lying on its side. "I think only a little," she responded. "It all happened so fast," she muttered sarcastically. She turned her ankle slightly to the right and took in a sharp intake of breath, quickly indicating that her ankle was not fine in all types of ways. "Shit."

A frown etched on Lucas's face as his eyebrows furrowed. He moved his body so his eyes were inspecting over the area of injury. He lightly touched her already swollen ankle and she groaned loudly, her head moving to the side in pain. "Well, shit."

"I don't want to look if I don't have to," she grumbled, her eyes shut tightly as she bit her bottom lip to hold back a scream. "It would be bad if I cried, right? I'm not going to cry."

"You can cry," Lucas confirmed. "I would cry."

"Dear golly," she said in a deep country accent, in an attempt to wash the pain away. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she sniffled. " _God_ , that hurts. I don't even know why I'm crying. Why am I crying?"

Lucas picked up her foot without her permission and she grunted deeply, her cheeks flushed a deep red. He picked at the cloth of her sock and pulled it down slightly to inspect the injury. She screamed under her breath dug her nails into the palm of her hand. "Lucas," she groaned. "Lucas stop, that hurts."

"Sorry," Lucas said quickly and dropped her foot on the leafy ground. Maya yelped in pain at the impact and a few more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Sorry!" he said loudly, his eyebrows raised in surprised.

"You're so fucking dumb!" she groaned, waving him over with her hand. He carefully stepped over the roots of the trees and the stumps and walked over to her face with a cheeky smile. "Why are you smiling? This is a serious matter."

He bit back a small laugh at her current state, even though he knew it was a horrible thing to laugh at. But her hair was splayed out all over the mossy ground, her left ankle totally swollen and he had never seen a sight quite like her. He thought he could get used to it.

She grabbed his hand and he pulled herself up as she hobbled on her right foot. He turned over as she grunted to herself so she could jump on his back. On the third count, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist; his hands reached under her thighs to hoist her up on him. Her rest rested on his shoulder as she yawned loudly.

"Take me away Cowboy."


	3. week 2

**i broke the rule. listen to technicolor beat while reading this chapter because the song has significance. by oh wonder. also body gold by oh wonder is the second song**

* * *

 **objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies  
4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies  
5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
7\. get creative! paint fight  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **October 9th - October 15th**_

 **October 5th**

Lucas waited for Maya by her locker, his arm resting against it as he lazily tapped at his phone. He took Maya to the ER after she sprained her ankle and she made him go away, after he called Riley. It was all weird, and a bit rushed, so he didn't get to see if she was doing well after that nasty fall.

He heard a familiar crash, which was likely due to Riley falling. His head shot up to the doors of Abigail Adams High and his eyes caught sight of the blonde rush of hair. His eyes trail down to her foot, which was covered in a boot; he couldn't help but laugh.

She wobbled her way up to him as she shooed Riley off to go to her locker so she could get her stuff. "Hey there Huckleberry." She shifted her strap of her bag so it stayed on her shoulders. A slight blush made her cheeks rosy as she looked up at Lucas with a cheeky smile. "How are you holding up with my fatal injury and all?"

Lucas laughed and nodded his head. "Pretty well. How about you, with that foot? I see a boot."

"Very observant," she said sarcastically, nodding her head and gazing her eyes towards the black boot that wrapped around her left foot. "The doctor said I'd have to wear it for six weeks. Which, is like more than half of this dumb thing we're doing."

"Eh," Lucas said, frowning slightly and shrugging his shoulders. "It'll make this all the bit more fun."

"You could say fun," Maya said with a raise of her eyebrows, standing on her right foot dominantly. The bell suddenly rang through the halls and Maya's head snapped towards the sound. "Looks like that's my cue to leave. You going?"

"I'll walk you to class," Lucas suggested, tugging his backpack in an embarrassed matter. "You'll need some assistance anyway, with that crippled foot and all."

Her first class was English, and his first class was AP Euro, from what he told her. Euro was on the other side of the building, but he didn't care if he was late. He just wanted to talk to her was all. And after last night, he could barely go to bed because all he could do was think about her. He was dumb and dramatic.

"I looked at the list Riley gave us last night after I dropped you off at the ER."

"You weren't even worried about me?" she snorted, lightly shoving his side in a joking matter.

Lucas ignored the slight rush he got when he talked to her. He shoved it off to the side as talking to a girl he enjoyed talking to, since he hadn't talked to anyone like her in a long time. "Hey!" he protested, his hands shot up in a defensive mode. "I called you like six times and you texted me to, and I quote, fuck off."

Maya shrugged and rolled her eyes, not denying it. "It _was_ your fault."

"Yeah, whatever puts you to sleep at night Blondie," he snorted, continuing to walk through with her through the halls. "As I was saying I was looking at the list Riley gave us of the tasks. Have you thought of anything to listen to?"

"Since we last saw each other?" she asked him with a raised brow, stopping at the corner of the hall to look up at him. "Which was, like, last night at the ER? Hate to tell you, but no. You seem excited to move on."

Lucas smiled down at it, holding his backpack against his shoulder. "It's October fifth, right?"

"I guess so."

"The next start of the task starts October ninth, and I'm open whenever you are, so you better be thinking about it."

She scrunched her nose at him playfully. "It's not that hard to think about, Bucky. Just ask something that your friends have listened to."

"Farkle listens to some weird classical composure mixed with some rap music."

"Rap music?" the blonde asked in a surprised matter. "That seems out of character."

"Trust me, I know," Lucas laughed. "And Zay, I don't really know about Zay and I'm not sure I want to. How about Riley?"

Maya rolled her eyes at the thought. "I'm sure she's more than willing to suggest some music to me, but I'm more than willing to decline. Have you heard the stuff she listens to? It's like some mix between lollypops and rainbows. And I'm pretty sure it was like a tune pulled from the TV show Bubble Guppies."

Lucas bit his bottom lip as he laughed at the thought. "That bad?" Before she could respond, however, the thirty second warning bell rung throughout the halls as people scurried to their classes. Luckily for Maya, her class was right next to her. However, for Lucas, his was on the other side of the hall. "That's my cue to leave."

"Yikes! Sorry about it bub."

"No worries," he shrugged, turning around to rush to his class. "I wanted to walk you anyway. See you around?" he yelled behind his shoulder.

Maya stayed silent for a moment, biting her bottom lip. She smiled to herself, and responded with a small yeah, even though he couldn't hear it. She would've been late to class since she was all caught up in her own thoughts if Riley hadn't grabbed her bicep and dragged her to her seat.

"There she is!" Maya said, rubbing her bicep as it ached from the yanking around thanks to Riley. "Chill, jitterbug."

"Did Lucas Friar _really_ walk you to class?" Riley asked excitedly as the final bell rung through the air. "It's only been one day, and things are already going better than planned!"

"Besides the fact that I sprained my ankle," Maya muttered, pulling back her hair into a messy ponytail and grabbing her book from her bag. "What's up doll?" Riley raised her eyebrows and snatched the book from Maya's hands. "Hey!" Maya gasped, reaching up to yank her book from Riley's hands. Riley was evil, though, as she stood far above Maya and dangled the book above her head. And she couldn't even jump, considering her foot was physically impaired. "You're evil."

"I know," Riley smiled, sitting down and setting the book on her desk. "I'll give it back to you if you tell me what happened with you and Lucas last night. You forgot to tell me between the screams of pain."

"Cute," Maya rolled her eyes, twirling her pencil between her fingers. "Nothing, really. Nothing important to note, anyway." Maya replayed the events of the night before right up until she sprained her ankle. The night was beautiful, and being there with him was all the better.

"Oh, stop with the lies!" Riley grunted, grabbing Maya's hands and shaking her from her thoughts. "You're blushing. Do you think I'm dumb?"

"A little."

Riley rolled her eyes and removed her hands from her friends. "C'mon, Maya! I taught you basic fractions in ninth grade! The least you can do is tell me what happened last night?"

"Nothing!" Maya promised, grabbing her book from Riley's desk while she wasn't looking. "He took me to Inwood Hill and we walked through this canopy of trees, you know?" Riley let her best friend ramble. "And we stopped at this peak, we didn't go all the way to the top because that would take too long. And it was beginning to really set. And he grabbed my hand and he brought me close to him—"

"And you _kissed_?!"

Maya's eyebrows raised in surprise at the sudden exclaim. "Woah, jitterbug! No, sister, calm down. We didn't kiss. No. We would never, capital N."

Riley smiled cheekily to herself and shrugged, forgetting the fact that Maya ever said that. "Continue."

"And he brought me close to him and he told me to look up. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees and it was the most beautiful sight. Everything turned gold, and it turned pink and I couldn't even think about painting something as beautiful as what I saw. It was entrapping."

"And then...?" Riley asked expectantly, her head in her hands like a preteen.

Maya rolled her eyes and smacked Riley's bicep with her book. "And then I sprained my ankle."

/

 **October 6th**

Maya had managed to pull an all nighter the night before so she could study for her Calc test, and somehow she knew she was going to fail it anyway. Her head lied against her locker tiredly as she shut her eyes tightly, groaning at the lights pouring through her hair. She heard a familiar amble which could only be pinned as a classic Huckleberry.

"Hey Potato Johnson," Maya said without opening her eyes. She yawned loudly and shifted her head slightly, attempting to take a nap on her locker in the middle of the hall.

"Sleeping beauty," Lucas greeted. "We never talked about the hike, you know? I wish we would've."

Maya opened one of her eyes to look at him, her arms still crossed. She opened her other eye as well after a moment. "What's there to talk about? I sprained my ankle and now I'm in horrible, agonizing pain anytime I walk."

"Cute," Lucas said sarcastically, smiling softly at her. "But seriously. I wanted to talk about what you felt."

"Felt? This isn't some soap opera," she snorted and then yawned again.

Lucas felt the urge to yawn after her but ignored the impulse and stared at her as her eyes crinkled to stare at him back. "Let me guess. Calc test was today and you stayed up all night?"

"Ten points to the Huckleberry in the blue jeans. You should really blame yourself since I had to go on that hike with you instead of studying."

Lucas rolled his eyes at her playfully but then his face suddenly got serious. Maya felt an extreme rush of herself being uncomfortable. She wasn't use to Lucas being so serious. "I know," he said, starting off, "that it was you—rather, your friend—who started this whole deal off. And I know we have a safe word, which is totally weird. But I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Were you uncomfortable at the hike?"

Maya's eyebrows furrowed at Lucas's question and she tilted her head curiously. "Why would you make me uncomfortable?" she asked softly, a curious hilt to her voice.

"It's.. just," Lucas stuttered, stumbling for his words. "I know that we've both been going through a breakup, and if there's anything I say or do that makes you feel out of place and uncomfortable, I want you to know that you can tell me to stop."

"What gave you the impression that I felt uncomfortable?"

Lucas huffed as he thought. "Nothing, really. Just that you're a pretty girl—"

"I'm pretty?" Maya interrupted with a smile, her voice a little raspy. "Never thought I'd hear the Huckleberry say it."

"That nickname is gonna stick, isn't it?" Lucas mumbled under his breath. "And, yes," Lucas said with a light pink touching his cheeks, "you're pretty, there's no point in denying that."

"Flattery isn't gonna convince me to listen to cowboy music, but nice try," she said with a scrunch of her nose, attempting to ease up the tension.

Lucas rolled his eyes, forgetting about what he was going to say. There was no point in it anyway, it would make things awkward. "It was worth a shot," he responded back. "When are you free, anyway?"

"Not today," Maya reminded him, scratching her forehead in thought. "Not Friday, because Riley's dragging me to something."

"I can't do Saturday, I have a tournament."

"How about next Saturday?" she asked.

"In a week?" Lucas asked, and he almost cringed at the disappointment in his voice.

Maya could hear it but took light of the situation. "Aw, don't tell me you're gonna miss me," she pouted sarcastically, her arms crossed in front of her breast.

"You wish, Blondie." The bell jolted them from their trance as people started to bustle to their classes. "Do you want me to walk you?"

Maya rolled her eyes fondly. Who knew she'd be getting attached to a cowboy. "I'm good. I'm not completely crippled, but thanks, and we don't want you to miss your class again. Pick me up at my place at three PM on Saturday and take me to yours, alright?"

"Will you even be awake then?"

"Probably not."

/

 **October 15th**

Maya had most certainly failed her Calc test, which is what she was expecting even though she had studied for six nights in a row, minus the one night she was in the ER for her ankle. Speaking of which, she only had five more weeks that she would be forced to wear her ankle boot. She had a checkup appointment the next day, October 16th, to make sure the boot was adjusted and she wasn't uncomfortable. And then, she had a midway appointment sometime at the beginning of November and her final checkup, which is when she would get her boot off, on November 16th.

She was only counting down the days because the boot was annoying as hell. Plus, she hated the way Lucas could make fun of her for it. But, whatever. Even if she kind of enjoyed it.

She heard a knock on her door but she ignored it, assuming it was probably Riley to throw on her clothes and take her out to frozen yogurt in a lame attempt to get her out of the house, which never really worked.

The knocking persisted and Maya grumbled under her sheets. Her head popped out from under the covers to check the clock next to her bedside, reading it as 2:49. He was eleven minutes early, and if he hadn't even come she probably wouldn't have woken up for another hour.

She reached over to her bedside table and pulled out her phone from its charger. She shot him a quick text and groaned loudly, her head hitting the back of her pillow.

 **from: Maya Hart  
sent: 2:51 PM  
seen: 2:51 PM  
**i see bucky is up bright and early. i'll be out in five give me a minute. plus you're early?

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 2:52 PM  
** **seen: 2:53 PM  
** It's almost 3 PM so I barely think that counts as early. Also, I was only like 15 minutes early. I somehow had a feeling that you wouldn't be up.

 **from: Maya Hart  
** **sent: 2:54 PM  
** **seen: 2:54 PM  
** cute. i'll be out in a second

She swung the door open in annoyance and gave the man in question a cross stare. He chuckled at her and put his phone away in his pocket. Maya's hair was messily put into a ponytail and she threw on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt, with her boot barely showing out of her baggy pants.

"You look cute," Lucas stated to wholly annoy her, which did its job perfectly. She scrunched up her nose in annoyance but neglected to respond to him.

Instead, she took the keys from the desk next to the door and her phone and shoved them in her sweater apartment. She stomped out of her apartment in a dramatic matter, a slight trace of a smile on her lips as she heard Lucas sigh in an exasperated matter.

Maya was far ahead of him and already in his car when he had managed to catch up. Her chair was reclined all the way back and her feet were stumped onto his dashboard, her arms situated comfortably behind her head. Lucas entered, greeting her with a roll of his eyes as he buckled his seat belt. Before he could even think about turning on the engine, however, Maya was already speaking up.

"You leave your car unlocked in the middle of New York?" she asked in a surprised tone, suddenly shifting her body to sit upright.

"I have trust in people," Lucas responded, which was clearly the wrong answer as Maya glared him daggers.

"Well, that's just stupid," she quipped back, reclining back in her chair in a nonchalant matter. "When you have trust in people, they steal your License Plate, and the checks from your work that you thought you so cleverly hid in the mirror. And then they look in your glove compartment, and steal your Trident gum. And if you're lucky, they won't jump start your car and steal that as well."

"Aw," Lucas said sarcastically at her little rant, his mouth forming into a soft pout. He reached over and rubbed her knee in a consoling matter. "You okay, kid?" he asked in a joking matter. "Did someone hurt little Maya Hart?"

Maya snapped his hand away from her knee, hiding the heat from her cheeks as best as she could. "Don't come whining to me when someone steals your car."

"No one is going to steal my car."

"I would if it was open."

Lucas rolled his eyes and started the engine, pulling backward out of the parking space. "That's sweet. At least I can be assured that my car will be in the safety of your hands."

"You shouldn't be assured."

"Well, _you_ should be, because I didn't keep my car unlocked in the middle of New York," Lucas reassured her as his eyes crinkled; Maya noticed the light lines. "I unlocked it while you were stomping off dramatically."

Maya shrugged, a light laugh escaping her lips. "Bad Larry Cuddle Bug Flippiflap isn't as clueless as I thought."

"Bad Larry Cuddle Bug Flippiflap? Where on hell did you come up with that one?"

"I was bored last night," she shrugged. "Instead of studying I stumbled upon a cowboy name generator."

/

Lucas parked in one of the resident parking spots in his apartment complex. He pulled the key out of the engine and peeked at Maya, who was looking around curiously.

"It's nice," she finally said, popping her gum in her mouth. She opened the door, almost hitting the car parallel to Lucas's car, and swung her feet out of the vehicle all the while skipping out.

Lucas led the way but stayed next to Maya's side in case she needed any help walking around. He felt kind of guilty that she sprained her ankle, even though it was completely her fault and he had nothing to do with it. He felt, in a weird kind of way, that he was responsible for it.

But he wouldn't tell Maya that. It would add more fuel to the fire.

His room number was on the ninth floor, room 9184. Maya duly noted the consistent lack of rats squirming around his apartment building and the people who didn't give him dirty stares. No wonder he had so much hope for New York.

After he swiped his card once, he held open the door for her. She stepped in slowly, peeking to her left and to her right. The apartment was well furnished, much more clean than her own, and there was a mother cooking a dinner in the kitchen. All of these things were things she wasn't used to, but that was okay.

"This your cowboy land?" she asked, slightly shifting her left foot so she could put more weight on your right. "It's cute," she noted, imitating what he had said earlier about her apartment only a week prior. Lucas rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, diffusing the slight tension that began to build up.

He led her to the kitchen, with his Mama absentmindedly wrapping up potatoes in some tinfoil. "Mama," he spoke up, catching her attention.

Her head snapped away from her utensils as Maya stood awkwardly on her right foot. The tension was thick, Maya could almost taste it. "Oh!" the woman said, her eyes lighting up slightly. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked up to her, taking Maya's hands from her side and shaking them vigorously that Maya almost shook. "You must be Maya Hart!"

"That's me," Maya confirmed with a light smile.

"Lucas talks about you all the time, you know?" she quipped with a light chuckle. Maya's eyebrows raised at that, and her head turned to meet Lucas's eyes. He avoided her gaze as if his life depended on it, a deep rose crept up on his cheeks.

"Hmmm... Lucas what do you have to say about that?" she asked him.

He was seriously hoping she would drop the matter, but he was seriously wrong in thinking she would do so. Instead of feeding her, he only told her the truth. Some of it, anyway. "I was telling her about the twelve-week thing," he stated.

"Sure," Maya said sarcastically, bumping her bicep into his. She brought her attention back to his mother as she began to speak again, merely ignoring the interruption as it never existed.

"My name is Luna, it's just _so_ nice to meet the lady my young Lucas has been raving about the past few weeks!"

"Mama," Lucas groaned, shutting his eyes tightly. "Maya and I are going to go to my room."

Lucas nearly dragged her all the way up the stairs to avoid his mother, but not before she shouted out, "Don't do anything Farkle wouldn't do! And be safe! Always use protection!"

Lucas pulled her into his room and shut the door tightly, grunting in slight exasperation. "Your mom is lovely," she stated, flopping on his bed. She only said it to irritate him, but it was true. No matter how much she loved her mom, she was never home as much as she liked. But you can't get everything you want.

"She talks a lot," he responded. "Probably a bit too much."

"Now I know where you get it from," she slurred, a cheeky smile placed on her face.

A sudden ring from both Lucas's phone and Maya's phone shocked them out of their thoughts. Maya grabbed her phone from her sweatshirt pocket and pulled it out to read, not at all surprised it was Riley.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 3:32 PM  
** **seen: 3:32 pm  
** I've got some stuff on my tunes, if you're interested. Which you probably are which is why I'm letting you know my Apple ID email and password. RileyMatthews01 and my password is RainbowUnicornPrincess64127 with all of the capitals as indicated. Also I made a mix tape after school. I'll link you that after this text sends. Also, I have a list I made in my notes for stuff you guys should listen to.

Came with the text also came a photo attachment of her notes, a list of all artists she should listen to.

 _Oh Wonder_

That was the only name that was pasted onto her notes. Maya rolled her eyes and shot her back a quick text.

 **from: PEACHES :*  
** **sent: 3:35 PM  
** **seen: 3:35 PM  
** whyd u take the time to make a whole notes thing and just put one artist? thanks anyway love u to pieces kiss kiss

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 3:36 PM  
** **seen: 3:39 PM  
** Very important stuff, Maya. Love you too. Make good choices and have safe sex.

Maya grunted softly at her response and chuckled. Riley sure was something else. A moment afterward, Riley sent a link to her mix tape.

Meanwhile, Lucas was texting his friend Farkle, whom had sent him a list of songs to listen to as well, much to Lucas's dismay.

 **from: Farkle Minkus  
** **sent: 3:32 PM  
** **seen: 3:32 PM  
** Riley Matthews called me yesterday, which is totally weird since I've never glanced at her before. Whatever. Anyway, she suggested that I suggest you some songs so I made a mix tape. FarkleMinkus

 **from: my jock friend (who isn't smarter than me)  
** **sent: 3:36 PM  
** **seen: 3:37 PM  
** Thanks Farkle. I'll text you later.

 **from: Farkle Minkus  
** **sent: 3:37 PM  
** **seen: 3:39 PM  
** Tell me details and if you get laid. Use safe sex.

 **from: my jock friend (who isn't smarter than me)  
sent: 3:40 PM  
seen: 3:40 PM  
**Gross. It's not like that. Talk to you later.

"Farkle?" Maya asked him after she stuffed her phone back in her sweater. She could see the look on his face, it was a familiar look she had on her face whenever she talked to Riley.

"Yeah," Lucas laughed, putting his phone on his desk and pulling out his laptop from his drawer. "Riley even reeled Farkle in this scheme."

"That's my girl," Maya said nodding her head. "Let's try Farkle's suggestion first."

Lucas brought the laptop over to his bedside and sat down next to her with his legs crossed, setting down the laptop on him. Maya scooted her body so their biceps were touching. Her hair fell past her back and some hairs stuck to his sweatshirt as well. She wasn't paying note to the body heat exchanged between them, but he was and his cheeks soon became flustered.

He clicked on the link Farkle sent him which led him to his mix tape he suggested. Lucas clicked play and the first song was a Mozart remix of someone rapping the piece of music.

"Dear _god_ ," Maya groaned, shutting her eyes and clasping her hands over her ears in an exasperated matter. "This is the kind of shit Farkle listens to?"

Lucas immediately shut it off and took the tab off of his computer. He pried Maya's hands away from her ears after he promised her twice that he turned it off. "That was terrible."

"What are you going to tell Farkle?"

"That it was lovely and we listened to the whole thing, but he's super smart so he'll probably see right through my lie and _actually_ make me listen to the whole thing."

Maya nodded her head at the thought, almost feeling bad for Lucas. "That's rough."

"Tell me about it," Lucas chuckled, turning to face Maya. "Did Riley suggest anything better?"

Maya swiped through her texts and sent Lucas the link over text of Riley's playlist. He clicked on the link on his computer and a youtube playlist popped up. "Oh Wonder?" he asked her, turning his head to look at her.

"Apparently. I've never heard of them, but Riley sent me a bunch of texts about them. So I guess they're pretty important."

"No Bubble Guppies?"

She shrugged. "One can only hope." Lucas clicked play on the playlist and sat back against his headboard as he let the words sink into his skull dully. Maya leaned against the headboard as well, her eyes shutting only slightly.

"Come on," Lucas finally said, after the second song had finished playing. He got up from his spot on the bed, looking down and seeing he had made a slight crevice in his sheets. "We can't sit like bumps on a log listening to new music. I don't think that's the point."

"I'm not going to dance with you, Lucas."

"Party pooper," Lucas said, sticking out his tongue. "That's not fair. This is boring."

"Is it supposed to be anything else?"

Lucas rolled his eyes and walked over to her side of the bed. He grabbed her hand which was lying on her side and pulled her up to face him. "Just one song?"

She thought for a moment and shook her head. "I have a sprained ankle."

"One song."

"One?"

"Only one."

Maya groaned loudly and in a dramatic fashion, but she reached up anyway as he pulled her towards him. He smelled warm, and like cinnamon. Her ear was against his chest, and their hands were laced together. Her arms wrapped around his back as his lightly touched hers. She laughed at the thought of dancing with Lucas Friar in his room.

 _And I feel life for the very first time  
_ _Love in my arms and the sun in my eyes  
_ _I feel safe in the 5am light  
You carry my fears as the heavens set fire_

Her body swayed into his softly, her hair tufted against his chest; she could feel his breaths as his chest went up and down. They stayed mostly in the same spot, but he held tight onto her hands and she let her eyes close for a moment, only a moment, as she let the heat of the moment let her breathe in him, and the song, and what it felt like to be held in someone's arms again.

 _Jump into the heat  
_ _Spinning on our feet  
_ _In a technicolor beat  
You and me  
Caught up in a dream  
In a technicolor beat_

She noticed the way his breaths matched the beat of the song, and the way he held her carefully, as if not to hurt her and as if barely to touch her. But he held on her, like his life depended on it and perhaps it did, perhaps all of his sanity now depended on her, and he knew that he was in deep shit already.

After the song finished, Lucas barely peered down at the small girl entrapped in his body heat. Her head was to the side, listening to him, her hands still clasped tightly around his hands. "Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah," she responded after a moment, her voice muffled through the material of his shirt and the mess of her hair.

They stayed in the same position as the next song began and even though Lucas only promised her one song, he couldn't help himself. Seeing her happy was something he enjoyed seeing, and he was hoping he could see more of it.

He released her but held onto her hand as he spun her back into him. A small laugh released from her lips as he held onto her, almost wrapping into her.

 _Before you came round my heart would never beat much faster  
_ _Before you came round I was ready to slow down  
_ _Before you came round I was heading for a small disaster  
_ _Before you came round I was ready to blow me down_

This time, they looked at each other as they danced. Their hands held as his other hand wrapped around her waist and she held onto his bicep. She was a klutz, and messy, but he never let her fall.

 _Let it go, paint my body gold  
Take our bodies higher and higher and higher  
We can go until the morning glow  
We can go higher and higher and higher_

Maya laughed as they spun around the room messily. The stumbled over each other's feet every few minutes, and they may have knocked a few things off his desk, but she had never enjoyed herself as much as she had just then, spending time with him.

She couldn't remember a time with Josh that she actually thought about herself. He had never made her laugh, and if he did, it was to make her feel like shit. And with Lucas, all she thought about was him and her. How he smelled like cinnamon and how she was paying attention the way he smelled. How his smile made her stomach flip and flop and how her sweaty hand clasped around his sweaty hand and how the room was hot and her sweatshirt was doing her wonders but she didn't care, not really.

Not with the way he was making her laugh.

After endless songs and multiple albums they had accidentally listened to, they collapsed on Lucas's bed in an exasperated matter. Their hands were still intertwined and Maya couldn't wipe the smile away from her face, no matter how hard she tried. Lucas turned over to face her, never letting go of her fingers. "Have you seriously never listened to Adele before today?"

"Never," she responded, playing with his fingers. "It was a mistake on my part."

"Definitely your fault," he joked. The air grew silent for a moment and they spent a moment just looking at each other before Lucas spoke up. "Maya—"

"Dinner's ready!" Luna yelled through the air, banging a pot for emphasize. The two sprung apart suddenly, surprised by the exclaim and the fact that there was another person in this house. Maya became flustered quickly, as did Lucas, and the two jumped off of his bed. They had been doing nothing wrong, but the mere implication and thought of it had surprised them.

"I—I should get going," she stuttered, fixing her hair with her fingers.

"Woah!" Lucas said, grabbing her hand and dragging him back to him before she could escape him. Maya looked down at his and her hand intertwined and then back at him, her eyes big and curious. Lucas slowly took his hand away from hers and gave her a small sorry. "Don't you want to stay for dinner?"

Maya peered at the clock on Lucas's desk. 6:17 PM. She had been at his house for almost three hours. Weird. She had to think about the pros and cons of staying over at his house for dinner.

Pro: get more embarrassing information about Lucas from his mother  
Con: get asked a question from his mother and not know how to answer  
Pro: spending more time with Lucas  
Con: spending more time with Lucas

Both sides were weighing heavy, but her thoughts were interrupted with Lucas speaking up. "So, is that a yes? My mom always makes more food, anyway."

Maya threw out her pro and con list, deciding that was something Riley would have to do later. She nodded her head, gulping back her saliva and her fears. "Yeah, I'll stay. I haven't had a hearty meal in awhile."

Lucas clapped happily and led the way downstairs, making sure to only stay a little bit ahead of Maya in case she fell down the stairs due to her boot. He opened the kitchen door to reveal his mother setting out the table. "Hey Mama," he greeted, kissing her cheek.

"Hey there Lukey. Maya!" she said, setting down the plates and wrapping the small girl in a tight hug. "So glad you could come and eat dinner with us."

"Of course," she smiled, sitting down next to Lucas and across from his mother.

"You can come anytime you'd like."

Maya nodded her head with a small smile. "Thank you."

Maya began to pick at her potato. She felt rude not eating the food Luna prepared, but she also felt weird eating in the first place. She didn't even know Lucas knew she existed two weeks prior, she didn't think she would be eating at his house for dinner anytime soon. The silence was thick, as well. It was clear that Lucas and his mother didn't know what to say with Maya in their presence.

"So, Mama," Lucas finally said in an attempt to break the tension. "How was work today?"

"Good," she responded, picking up a piece of her potato and eating it. "I got to go home early, which was nice so I could make you lot a dinner. I'm glad I got extra food, too, for you bring a guest and all."

"Where do you work?" Maya asked, setting her fork down. She wasn't that hungry, anyway.

Luna smiled at her sweetly. "At a nursing abuse center, a few blocks down from our apartment complex. It's to help people who were like Lucas and I were once, you know?"

Maya's eyebrows sprung as Luna mentioned that she and Lucas were once abuse victims. That was a secret she wasn't expecting from his mother. "That's wonderful," Maya said with a smile. "I'm very glad that you get to help people every day. It must be an amazing experience."

"It is. Thank you very much for asking, my dear. Now, 'nough about me. Let's get to the real business. What is up with y'all two?"

Maya resisted the urge to seriously roll her eyes. She was getting sick of people, in general, asking about her and Lucas's relationship, namely people in her school. What was so wrong about hanging out with a boy? There didn't have to be sexual connotations, though everyone assumed there were.

"Oh—Miss Friar, we aren't—" Maya began but was soon cut off by the jittery mother.

"Darling, I know love when I see it. Don't try to deny it."

"Mom," Lucas groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms. He was suddenly regretting inviting Maya to his dinner since clearly, he couldn't save her and himself from the embarrassment.

"Oh, now don't be wrong, Miss Hart," Luna smiled, clasping her hands on the table. Lucas gave Maya a look of exasperation and she kicked him under the table with her good leg. They both laughed at her expression. "See, I was thinking that Lucas wasn't ever gonna get over Misty, you know? And you do put a smile on his face that I hadn't seen a long time."

Maya turned over to look at Lucas, but his expression had gone cold at the mention of Misty's name. "Mama," Lucas said in a stoic tone, his face serious. "Please don't talk about Misty."

Luna scrunched her eyebrows to look at Lucas and then nodded her head. "Alright. Sorry, Luke."

Maya had decided she had had enough of the Friar residence for a day, perhaps a lifetime. No doubt that she loved his mother, and him, of course. But she didn't know as much as she thought and the air suddenly grew awkward with the mention of Misty.

Maya raised her eyebrows and used her hands on her thighs to help get up. "This has been a wonderful meal," she said, smiling at Luna. She looked down at her untouched plate and felt a sudden wave of guilt surge through her, but she ignored it. "But I have to get home, right Lucas?"

"Right," Lucas said absentmindedly.

Maya grabbed his hand and pulled him up. She dragged him all the way to the front door, not before saying goodbye to his mother and thanking her yet again, before pulling him to the side. "Hey, buddy," she said, snapping his attention to her and dropping his hand. "You alright?"

Lucas gulped down his saliva for a moment and nodded his head, thinking. "Yeah," he finally said. "I think so."

She almost said _you can talk to me about anything_ but she's not sure if he can because she sure as hell can't talk to him about anything. So, instead, she didn't. "That's good," she responded. "Then take me home, Cowboy."


	4. week 3

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies  
5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
7\. get creative! paint fight  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **October 16th - October 22nd**_

 **October 19th**

At school, there was an air of awkwardness between Lucas and Maya. It was obvious that there would be an underlying drift between the two, due to the fact that they had never talked to each other before the twelve week thing, but with the mention of Misty, due to his mother's running mouth, Lucas didn't know how to engage in a conversation.

Maya wasn't one to pry, and she had no right, anyway, considering him and her were barely friends. And he didn't dare ask about Josh, since she never brought him up in the first place, so she considered to never bring up Misty and let it be an elephant in the room, and perhaps survive through the twelve weeks and never speak to him again.

Lucas, however, had a completely different schedule than her.

"Maya," Lucas shout at her from across the hallway. The sight of Lucas and Maya interacting and hanging out in the halls were, albeit, an odd one but students had nearly gotten used to the fact. That didn't prohibit every student to stare at the pair like lost ducklings. "We need to talk."

Maya's head was in her locker, fiddling with her books absentmindedly as she tried to avoid any conversation with Lucas. She wanted to _not_ have this conversation as long as possible, and primly, not to have it at all. In no situation did she want to make Lucas uncomfortable when they were _just_ becoming friends.

"Maya!" Lucas said, again, ambling up to her lockers and touching her shoulder softly.

"I'm busy!" she grunted through the metal, feeling the warmth of his touch. She turned her head to face him, to tell him to go away, but she seemingly forgot her head was in a locker. Her head hit the side with a loud bang and she grunted loudly, feeling a sting on the side of her head. "Oooff," she groaned, holding the victim of her head with her hand as tears prickled her eyes dramatically.

"Are you accident prone around me?" Lucas asked, smiling at her cheekily. She rolled her eyes and rubbed her skin sadly, feeling the slight sting beneath her fingertips.

Maya nodded her head and swayed slightly on her feet, attempting to ignore the throbbing pain in her foot as well as her head. Time would tell if she'd break every other bone in her body as well. "What's up Huckleberry?"

"Are you on for Saturday?" he asked her, a slight bounce on his feet. He was excited, Maya could tell. And it was a good thing he neglected to mention Misty. Luckily, he probably forgot about it but Maya couldn't ignore that nagging feeling in the back of her skull. Or perhaps it was her goose-bump that was starting to form.

"Yeah," she said a bit raspy, swallowing her saliva to clear her throat. "You seem excited. Wait, don't you have a tournament that day?"

Lucas smiled widely, nodding his head. "I see you're keeping up with my baseball schedule."

Maya's cheeks flushed at his accusation. "Of course I'm keeping up with your baseball schedule," she spilled quickly. "The school's baseball schedule, I mean. You're my taxi driver, basically, for this twelve week thing. I need to know when you have tourneys."

"Cute," Lucas responded, scrunching his nose in admiration. "Nice cover."

"Thanks," she fake bowed in mock. "I try. And if you have a baseball tourney, then we _aren't_ on for Saturday?"

"Wrong," Lucas tsked. "If you read up on the list, which is what I did, it's guys choice. You do one of my hobbies. It's a day dedicated to me," he clarified.

"I don't think that's what it means," she scrunched her eyebrows, rubbing her head in circles.

Lucas rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Minuscule details. And that's besides the point. During normal baseball tourney days we have one game, and two if we're reaching. I want you to come."

Maya's eyebrows rose as Lucas began to speak. _She_ , out of all people, would come to his baseball game? That seemed random, and a bit odd. But he was correct, it was one of his hobbies, and if playing baseball was his hobby, it made sense to go to one of his games. "Are you sure you want me to go to one of your games?"

"Of course."

Maya nodded her head at his response, and regretted it because of the throbbing in her skull. She groaned, and rubbed her head in circles a bit more in a failed attempt to ease the pain. "I suppose I'll come if I don't accidentally break my leg or puncture my brain with the time in between."

Lucas smiled down at her, a quick flutter pounded through her stomach. Shitty reaction, she thought. She needed to stop - more so, _he_ needed to stop - if she were going to maintain any control over their relationship. Control over what? She barely knew.

"Good, that's good," he stuttered, his hand rubbing over his backpack strap. "I'll pick you up at eleven on Saturday."

Maya scoffed, giving him a questioned looked. "Eleven PM? That seems a bit late, don't you think?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Not eleven PM, Maya. Eleven AM. In the morning."

Maya's eyebrows rose and her eyes nearly shot out of her head. " _Excuse_ me?" she sputtered disbelievingly. Her hand dropped from her head and shot up dramatically. "Eleven? Saturday's are my nights to sleep in, thank you very much. Sunday's are the days my mom comes home from her religious venture and spews me out some Christ shit and attempts to get me to go to church. It's the only free day I have, and I'm spending it on _you_. At eleven AM. In the morning!"

"Eleven AM," he confirmed, nodding his head as she continued to ramble on messily.

"Why is it even so early? Why do you have to play baseball so early? This is a form of harassment, or something. I'm a free person, you can't force me to do anything."

Lucas rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand that was flailing in the air like a fish on dry land. "Maya, stop being dramatic."

Maya's cheeks went flush with heat as he didn't let go of her small fingers. She stared down at their fingers interlaced, and then back up at him, and then back at their fingers. Lucas had an amused grin on his face. "What's the matter?" he asked her, neglecting to drop his hand from hers.

"Oh, nothing, you big Huckleberry," she grumbled out in an irate matter, yanking her hand away from his. He laughed to himself softly at her reaction. "You're going to fall asleep on the field, and I'll tape it and make you internet famous."

"Sweet," he joked, "I've always wanted to be internet famous." Maya rolled her eyes in annoyance, and Lucas was surprised at how irate she was today. It was too easy to get her annoyed with him, he almost enjoyed it. "Eleven AM isn't even that late, and that's not when I play. I play at four."

"Then why the _fuck_ are you waking me up at eleven AM? Bullying is illegal, in some states."

A wide smile erupted on Lucas's face at her response; everything about her made him laugh. The way she called him Huckleberry, the way she grumbled about everything she had ever encountered, how she was so clumsy. He loved it. "You find this _funny_?" she sputtered out angrily, stomping her better foot on the ground next to his foot. "You won't be laughing after I beat your ass black and blue and throw you back to Texas."

"Calm down crazy lady," Lucas laughed at her again. He was probably fueling her anger, but he didn't care that much. "We leave at eleven, it's a three hour drive to the field - that's including the New York traffic, I checked. So we'll get there at two, get you a nice little lunch to fill your belly, and I have to be at the game an hour before it starts anyway."

Maya stayed silent for a moment, contemplating his offer. "You'll pay for the lunch?"

"Yes."

"I suppose I'll go. And don't think I'm going for you, since I always seem to hurt myself when I'm around you. Either physically, or emotionally, but more so emotionally since you're emotionally tiring. I'm going for the free food, _that_ you're going to buy me."

"Thanks for the clarification," Lucas joked. "I'll see you on Saturday at eleven?"

"And not a minute later."

/

 **October 22nd**

Maya was up at eight. She went to bed at only nine the night before, suddenly overdrawn with tiredness. She assumed she wouldn't have woken up until Lucas come and gotten her, but she had gotten a plentiful eleven hours of sleep, which could be enough to get her through the day and of Lucas's baseball tournament. She had at least hoped so.

So when Lucas came knocking at her door at 10:59, she feigned tiredness, but only a bit, since she was always tired. The drive would be fair, about two hours to three since they were driving all of the way to New Jersey. But she had planned to enjoy the long trek with Lucas, since she had decided to also buy the whole physical album of Oh Wonder the night before, conveniently the new album they had listened to only the week prior.

"There's my Huckleberry," she said in a joking matter as she opened the door. She was in an obvious better mood than the last time he saw her, which was certainly a plus. But it was also a down, since it'd be harder to get under her skin. But he always managed to do that, so he didn't think he would have to be trying in the first place.

Her hair was curled and wound up softly in her ponytail. A few stray pieces of hair poked out of it and Lucas had a serious, and disgusting (if you asked him, he would deny everything) urge to tuck it behind her ear. He nearly hated himself. This time, she was wearing leggings and a long sleeve T-shirt that she had to cuff around her wrists. She also had tied a light sweater around her waist, just in case.

"Your Huckleberry?" Lucas asked her curiously as he closed the door behind him. Maya took a steady pace next to his side as they walked down her apartment building.

"Yep," she responded gleefully, popping the p. "Does anybody else call you Huckleberry? If so, I'd like to talk to them. They'll regret ever taking my nickname for you."

Lucas rolled his eyes at her. He was dressed in sweats and a big T-shirt, even for him. Maya almost wondered what it would look like on her, probably almost eating her, but she shooed the thought away as soon as it came. "Did you already have breakfast?" he asked her, opening her door for her. Her hair whipped softly as she entered the car and strapped the seat belt over her body.

"Obviously," she grunted. "Don't tell me your Texas ass was going to buy me both breakfast _and_ lunch. Because if you were, I accept."

Lucas smiled at her and hopped in the car, turning on the ignition. Once he turned out of her apartment parking lot, Maya popped out the country music from his car radio and put in something else. "Hey!" Lucas said, attempting to swat her hand while looking at the road. "I've got some quality music in there."

"What's this?" she asked curiously, flipping over the CD that she had in her hand to look at it. Her body was turned toward Lucas while his was focused on the road. "Cowboy Blues?" she giggled. "Oh, don't tell me you have the cowboy blues when you don't listen to your Cowboy Blues. Seriously, Lucas? Where did you get your music taste? I'm highly disappointed."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Then it's a good thing it isn't your music taste. Hey, handle that with care, it's limited edition."

Maya gagged, but put the CD carefully in its case anyway and set it in the car pocket to her right. "Don't worry, your music is safe and sound. Let's play a game."

"A game?"

"Yes. I know we're out of school but let's have a quiz. What did we listen to last week?"

"You seriously don't remember? That was like, a week ago."

Maya groaned and rolled her eyes. He could be so goddamn dumb sometimes. "Wrong answer. And _duh_ , that's why I said last week. Answer the question, you annoying Huckleberry."

"That band called Oh Wonder, right? They were pretty good."

"Ding ding!" Maya said enthusiastically, tapping her nose for flare. The seat belt twisted around her hip uncomfortably, but she merely ignored it as her body faced his. "Seriously, sometimes I wonder how you're passing school," she muttered to him as a joke. Lucas's eyebrows scrunched.

"I'll have you _know_ , darling, that I'm an all A student. Don't know about you, though."

Maya's mouth hung open in a joke. "How dare a Huckleberry like you say something so rude!" she laughed, hitting his bicep softly. "Who cares if I have all As, I'm not going to college anyway. I have other plans, you know, outside of New York." Maya turned her head towards the radio and pressed play, the soft lyrics from the band they listened to the week prior enveloping the car.

"What would those be?" he asked with genuine curiosity. It was a rare occurrence, really, for someone to actually listen to what she wanted to do outside of high school. Josh always talked about himself.

"You know," she muttered in a suddenly shy matter. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she moved her attention towards the passing cars in the other direction. "The usual stuff."

Lucas laughed. "I don't know, that's why I asked, but thanks." They stayed silent for a moment before Lucas egged on some more. "Come on, Maya. You can tell me anything, you know that, right? I won't laugh or judge."

Maya felt an odd feeling erupt in her stomach, it was something she felt only once at the very beginning of her relationship with Josh. She thought to ignore it and perhaps bring it up to Riley later. Or not, since she looked into everything as a romantic advance. "Sorry, you're right," she shook her head, paying close attention to the sharpie drawn fingernail on her thumb. "Josh never cared to listen to me when I talked about my future."

Lucas bit his lip as his hands stayed concentrated on the wheel. "You can tell me about him too, you know. If you ever need to vent."

Maya nodded her head and lied her head on the cold, glass window as she stared at the foggy polluted sky. "That's sweet Lucas, thanks," she responded honestly without a drop of sarcasm in her voice, which surprised Lucas. "How about we wait for him until twenty questions, alright? And what about you with Misty?" she said, regretting it almost immediately as Lucas tensed at the name.

There was silence for a few minutes, only the lyrics from the CD that was popped in filtered through the air. "We should wait for twenty questions, as well. And I'll answer anything you want then, alright?"

"Okay," Maya said, a bit too relieved with the fact that the silence was broken. "This is too weird, sorry." She shook her head. "Anyway, about _my_ future, I want to be an artist, a big one. Like one of those ones that have their paintings travel state by state in galleries or whatever. You know, I want to travel the world, as cliche as that sounds, and maybe paint people and culture and what I see. It's all very stupid."

"No!" Lucas said hurriedly, getting off an exit and turning. "It's not stupid, Maya, and if you want to know a _real_ stupid dream, you should hear mine."

Maya smiled at the thought. "Ooh, don't tell me," she said, bouncing in her seat. "I'm going to guess. Okay, um, a bull rider!"

"No," Lucas shook his head, smiling. "However, I did ride a sheep once."

Maya laughed, throwing her head back. "Now _that's_ an accomplishment, Sundance. All I can think of in my head is, like, cowboy related stuff. I give up."

"I want to be a vet."

Maya was silent for a moment before she responded. "A _vet_? As in a veterinarian?"

"That's the one," Lucas snorted. "I know, it sounds very...childish. It's what I've wanted to be since I was a kid, so I suppose that makes sense."

She shook her head. "No, it's cute! Seems very Huckleberry-ish. It suits you, you know; saving one animal at a time. I can already see your business name, something like Friar's Animals, or Texan Taking Caring Of Your Animals, or Cowboy Cows, or something."

"I'm sure I'll contact you when I get my business up."

The two sat in comfortable silence for awhile as Maya tried to balance popcorn on her nose. She had come pretty successful at throwing and catching carrots in her mouth, as she filed through her phone and several snacks that Lucas packed. After an hour and a half, Lucas finally spoke up. He looked over at her for a moment, as she chipped off her nail polish and yawned. But his eyes quickly drifted back to the road.

"Halloween is in, like, nine days. Do you know what you're going to be?"

"Of course," she responded, rolling her eyes as if he should _know_ that she would obviously be prepared for Halloween three months in advance. "You'll like my outfit, I think. Very appealing to men like you."

"What does that mean?"

"It's up for your interpretation. How about you?"

Lucas smiled. "That's a surprise, as well. I think you'll like it, too, very appealing to _women_ like you," he mocked. Maya beamed at him happily, and then whipped her head around to attempt to throw some more popcorn in her mouth.

Lucas kept his eyes towards the road, and much to his disdain and probably his danger, he kept his mind towards Maya. She was just so... _distracting_. The way her eyes lit up when she talked about art, or food. Or sleep, or Riley. Something she really loved. And the way her eyes crinkled when her smile beamed. Perhaps it was the way she kept missing the popcorn from her mouth by a mile, and the way she came up with new nicknames to bug him. Perhaps the way her face would soften when she was genuine with him and when she would give him a compliment. How she was so clumsy around him, and the way her mouth would pout when she was sad, and the way her eyes would divert when they would talk about Josh. He didn't know what it was, perhaps it was all of them, he would have to figure it out though.

Lucas eyed his clock, noticing how much time had passed. It was almost two, and he was just about to pull into the local diner that he had planned to take Maya to. Not a date, of course. Maya was conked out on her side of the car, her head was lolling slightly as she drooled on his seat. He laughed to himself.

Lucas parked the car and gently stopped it. He pulled the key out of the ignition and hopped out, running over to Maya's side and opening the door. "Maya," he grumbled, shoving her shoulder slightly. She grumbled and rubbed her eyes with her palms.

"What year is it?"

"The same year it was the last time you were awake. We're at Shannon's, which is where we're having lunch."

Maya opened her eyes slightly and smiled, suddenly awake. "Yes! I love food," she hiccuped slightly, unbuckling her seat belt and bounding out of the car. Once Lucas caught up to her, she was already seated and pondering the lunch menu. The cafe had little people, as lunch began around three hours prior and dinner was in about three hours. It was a good time to come, too, since their lunch would be received quickly.

"Look," she said, her eyes scanning the menu for the third time over as he sat down, "I'm not a brat. I mean, I am totally a brat, but I'm not a huge brat so I won't buy the most expensive thing on the menu."

Lucas rolled his eyes and grabbed the menu out of her hand to look it over. She growled in annoyance and tried to snatch it back but he held it above his head. Unfair. "You can get anything you want, Maya. Don't pay attention to the prices, pay attention to the ingredients.

"That was deep," she teased, finally snatching the menu from his hand. Her eyes glazed over the menu for a final time; she handed Lucas the menu as the waitress walked over and poured them some water.

"Would you two dolls like anything to drink besides water, perhaps some coffee?" she asked. Maya noticed she had a slight southern twinge and kicked Lucas's foot under the table with her booted foot; he kicked just as quickly. Maya's head moved softly to peer at her name tag, Shannon.

"Woah," Maya said aloud, "do you own this place?"

Shannon shook her head as she grabbed her pad from her apron. "No," she drawled softly. "I do get that question a lot, however. My grandma made this place a few years back, she was named Shannon. My mama is named Shannon too, she's the one that owns here. It's like a whole line of Shannon's to keep the place and its authenticity."

"That's wonderful," Lucas said to her, his eyes twinkling at the story. Maya thought Lucas could get fascinated by any story that muttered out of any strangers mouth.

Shannon noticed the slight southern accent that laced underneath Lucas's voice. Maya had almost forgotten that Lucas had one, since she had spent so much time with him as of late. "Are you from the South?" she asked him. "I rarely see any of y'all up in these parts, anymore. My mama moved to Alabama when she was about twenty and gave birth to me there, while my grandma worked back here at Shannon's."

"Yes, ma'am, I lived in the South. Austin Texas, to be precise. I moved when I was thirteen to New York, because of my of my mama's job." Maya could tell Lucas held back some of the truth, with the way his shoulders tensed at the thought. She thought she could bring it up at twenty questions.

Maya decided to ease the tension Lucas caused by ordering. "Can we each get a cup of coffee? Wait, no, I'll only have a cup of coffee because I don't think you're allowed to drink coffee before a game, or something. So just get him some more water, because he's _always_ thirsty," she snorted at her own joke. "Also, I'll have a veggie omelette and he'll have a meat lovers omelette."

Shannon tapped their order on her pen with a flourish and nodded at the both of them as she skipped away through the empty restaurant, placing the order to the chefs.

Maya swished her water around with her straw as she let the ice crunch between her teeth. Lucas payed mind to her closely, while Maya shifted uncomfortably under his heated gaze. "What, is there something in my teeth?"

"No," Lucas responded quickly, "how's that foot feeling?"

"Fine, I'll be sitting down for the entirety of your game anyway."

After a few minutes of them talking, Shannon finally pounced over with one cup of coffee and two types of omelette. "One veggie for the lady," she said, sliding her plate over to Maya on the other side of the table as well as her coffee. "And one meat lovers for the gentleman."

Once Shannon disappeared behind the Employees Only sign, Maya dug into her meal like she was an archaeologist searching for bones. In the process, some of her food got in her hair, and some of her hair got in her food. The food splayed out all over her face and Lucas laughed at her as he cut his carefully and neatly.

"I think you've got something on your face," he noted, stuffing another sausage in his mouth.

"Oh really?" she said after she gulped down her final piece and wiped her hair away from her eyes. "I couldn't tell."

"You eat like a wolf," he told her as she wiped away the stray food with a napkin. "You gulped that thing down in, like, five minutes."

She smiled at him widely, tightening her hair. "It's not my fault you Huckleberry decided to starve me for three hours."

"Hey!" he yelped defensively. "I brought carrots and popcorn to snack on. You're so tiny yet you eat so much, it's amazing."

After Lucas payed for the bill and gave Shannon a generous ten dollar tip, Lucas and Maya hopped in his car and they rode to the baseball field. Maya was almost giddy to see him in his baseball suit. She really hoped he had a good ass or her whole baseball fantasy/dream would be ruined.

"You better look good out there, or I'm never coming to one of your baseball games again."

Lucas turned the key and pulled it out of the ignition and smiled at her. "So you were thinking of coming to another one of my games, anyway?"

"Only if you bought me food, and then it was a fifty/fifty chance, so maybe."

Lucas pulled into one of the parking spots. Despite the game starting in an hour and fifteen minutes, the parking lot was already packed full of trucks and minivans. Lucas had to cram his small truck in the back; if he had come any moment later, he would have had to park in the back. "See," he said," pulling out the key, "we're lucky we're even an hour and fifteen minutes early."

Maya rolled her eyes and snapped her seat belt off while she hopped out of the car. Lucas trailed next to her, slowing down to reach her pace; he had grabbed his baseball bag that was full of his baseball gear from his trunk. Their arms were swinging next to each other and almost touched, but there was just enough distance to feel the wind on their forearms. Lucas almost wanted to reach out and take his hand in hers, but he quickly threw that thought away.

Once they approached the field, Maya could spot his gigantic team from a mile away. She could already see their baseball butts and she was bouncing on her boot. "Are you going to put your uniform on?" she asked him, poking at his bag.

"Yeah, in a moment. I thought you'd like to meet my team."

Maya smacked her lips in an excited matter. "Ooh, you know me so well."

Rather than Lucas and Maya approaching his team, his team more so bombarded Lucas in a dramatic matter. They came running down from across the field to greet him happily, slapping his back and chanting for him. "They seem excited to see you," Maya snorted.

With her words, the chanting suddenly stopped and their heads turned simultaneously, their eyes sparkling suddenly with the sight of a girl. Maya's body shrank back defensively into Lucas; she wasn't used to this kind of attention, especially from a bunch of men at the same time.

"Woah, woah, guys," Lucas said, his hand folded around her shoulders to assure her. Maya felt the heat from his hands travel up to her cheeks, but she attempted to ignore it. "You guys look like you're about to eat her whole."

"I _sure_ would like to eat her whole!" one of the guys in the back said. "Did Lucas bring a little guest to our baseball game? Does little _Lucas_ have a _girlfriend_?"

The rest of the boys started cheering at Lucas and slapped his back. "Nice job!" he heard one of them say.

"Slow down!" Lucas said, pulling Maya closer to him. He definitely did not want her to get eaten by the crowd. "No, this is my friend Maya Hart, remember?" he said, nodding his head slowly as if they were children. "Remember how I told you of the twelve-week thing we're doing?" They nodded. "This is week three, remember?"

"Oh!" one guy from the back shout at Lucas. Maya recognized him as Devin from her math class. "Isn't Maya Hart that - like - lonely artist that's really hot?"

"She's standing _right here_ Devin," Lucas groaned, rolling his eyes and almost face palming himself.

"Ooh!" Devin yelped, sifting his way through the baseball team until he made his way to the front. "Devin Delong," he muttered saucily, giving Maya a soupy yellow smile. "Nice to meet ya."

"Dude!" one of them said, hitting Devin's shoulder and dragging him away from Maya. He made his way to the front and introduced himself in the same matter. "Name is Barack."

"Like the president?" Maya snorted.

Barack frowned and his eyebrows furrowed. "Everyone says that! I don't know why!" Barack was pulled back from the crowd and Lucas's eyes visibly rolled to the back of his head.

"Maya," Lucas said, facing her. "They're probably going to be super weird for awhile, so I think you should head up to the stands and I'll get dressed. Until my coach calls me over, I'll hang out with you."

Maya smiled and nodded her head, "Sounds good, Huckleberry," she said with a tint of sarcasm. She whipped her head and headed for the stands, her boot dragging along her as if it were an extra weight.

Lucas fully intended to escape his team so he could narrowly avoid the conversation about Maya he knew was bound to happen, but before he could run off and change into his uniform, one of them caught him by his elbow and pulled him back into the swarming sea of BO reeking baseball boys. "You two already have pet names? Now that's cute," Devin said.

"No," Lucas rolled his eyes, shaking Devin's arm off of his elbow. "It's not like that. We're just friends."

"I'm sure," one of the darker ones said to the right with a slight drawl. "That's what they all say."

"It's not like that," Lucas repeated. "We're just helping each other out."

"In bed!" one of them yelled and made a disgusting sign. Lucas grunted and quickly slid out of their grasp while they were whooping and hollering. Zay quickly followed behind him to the bathroom and he sighed in relief. Zay, he could handle.

He followed in his stride quickly, while Zay peeped back at the stand to look at Maya playing with her phone in a bored matter. "So, really, what's going on with Maya?"

"Nothing," Lucas promised. "I swear! Why does everyone thinking there's something going on with us?"

"Because the last time I saw you two interact was in the hall and she was yelling at you with her hand over her head like she had some headache, and now you and her are all lovey-dovey eyes at each other, and you're smothering her in front of your friends."

"Okay," Lucas grunted, annoyed. "I was holding her because I was certain one of the boys on our team would've tried to, like, I don't know... inspect her? Or something crazy."

"That doesn't explain the lovey-dovey eyes part."

"Maybe you're just thinking things."

"Maybe you are too."

/

After Lucas got dressed, he intended to avoid his team until his coach called him over. So, he spent a good twenty minutes with Maya until the opposing team, as well as his coach, showed up. As he went to leave the stands, Maya slapped his butt as a joke and Lucas's cheeks flushed up heatedly. His eyes pondered over to his team, who were all looking at him expectantly. "Play good," she told him warily.

During the whole three hour period of his game, Maya clearly didn't understand a dime of what was going on. Anytime someone from the opposing team got a, she supposed was a touchdown or something, apparently your side of the stand was supposed to boo. They also seemed to provide peanuts, so Maya spent a good half hour of the game in line. She also bought one of those number one mittens.

She was pretty sure Lucas's team won by the way they were hooting and hollering at the end so she yelled, "Yes! Let's go Huckleberry! That's my Huckleberry!" She could see Lucas smile at her through the crowd of his baseball teammates and she smiled back, waving at him softly. He gave her a thumbs up and she responded back with one.

The heat and energy from the crowd due to their win was too much for Maya, so she sat down next to a girl that looked about her age. She introduced herself curtly, and it gave Maya a serious mental image of Riley. She had brown hairs and big, doe eyes just like her. "Hi, my name's Jessica. Which one is yours?"

She assumed she was talking about the players on the field so Maya stood up on the stand seat and pointed him out through the crowd. "Number twelve, I think. I can't read it from here."

Jessica stood up on her stand and followed her gaze to where number twelve was cheering in the field. "Ooh," she said, "I was keeping my eye on him. He's really good."

"I wouldn't know," Maya laughed, "this is the first game I've been to."

"You haven't been to your boyfriend's games before?"

Maya's eyebrows rose in surprise at the mention of boyfriend. "Sorry—he's not my—uh—boyfriend. We're friends."

"Oh!" Jessica exclaimed. "Sorry, I just thought you two were..you know..doing it. Sorry to sound crass, but you do have a pet name for him."

"It's not a pet name," Maya said, annoyed. "It's a nickname. He's from the South, it works."

Jessica shrugged and sat back down. "May be, but from someone on the outside, sure doesn't look like it."

"Well, what about you? Why are you here?"

Jessica shrugged and rose her eyebrows. "I work for the school newspaper, I'm supposed to write on all of the games."

Ah shit, Maya thought almost immediately. She suddenly recognized that doe eyed face, which was just a feign for innocence since almost anyone would opened up to her. Jessica Wheeler, probably the biggest gossip in the school. "Jessica Wheeler," Maya noted. "Surprised I didn't notice you."

"Most don't, even though I'm the biggest gossip in the school. It's surprising really." And with that, Jessica bounced out of her seat and headed to her car. Maya checked her watch, it was seven fifteen. It would be late when she would get home, not that her mother would notice.

The field was starting to clear as everyone held up their capri-suns victoriously. Lucas was putting something in his bag and he smiled at Maya as she approached. "Hey there all-star," she said giddily, handing him the bag of her peanuts. "I heard you got like, six touchdowns or something."

"Home-runs," he clarified. "And it wasn't six, it was seven, but thanks." He popped a peanut in his mouth. The sun was starting to set and Maya remembered what the first night spending with Lucas alone was like. There were a beautiful array of pinks and purples, and it certainly made everything more appealing now that it was basically just Lucas and her alone in a gigantic baseball field. "You ready for the second part of this evening?"

"What?" Maya sputtered, surprised. "It's already past seven, Lucas, we should probably get heading home."

"Note, you should read the activities on the card Riley printed out for us closer. It's for _you_ to experience one of my hobbies, not for me to do it and for you to watch."

"Then why'd we do this whole ordeal of me watching and you playing? God, you're such a Cowboy."

"Hey!" Lucas argued, "Is it a crime for me wanting you to watch me play?"

Maya rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath, snatching the peanuts from his hands. "I guess not," she guttered under her breath. "What are we going to do now? I don't suppose you'll be making me bat." Lucas smiled at her mischievously and she automatically groaned at the thought. "You're going to make me bat!"

"C'mon, it's not that hard," he chastised, grabbing a bat from his bag. He led her to the batting mound and held out the bat for her to take. She stomped on her good foot like a whiny child and took the bat anyway. "Just, straighten your shoulders." Maya did just so but earned a laugh from Lucas.

"This isn't funny, you Huckleberry! I'm a small, broken-footed girl!"

"Spread your knees apart," he told her.

"Never thought I'd hear that from you."

"Stop being sexual for a moment and spread your knees apart." Maya rolled her eyes at him but spread her knees apart anyway. She planted her boot firmly in the mound below her and twisted her other foot so she'd be stable.

"How is that?"

Lucas smiled at her and nodded his head. "You could almost replace me on the team with that form."

"Good to know. Now throw that ball at me." Lucas stepped back slightly and threw the ball at a slight angle, so it'd reach her bat easily. And somehow, in someway in hell, the ball missed her bat completely. Her head turned as she watched the ball sag sadly in the sand. "That's just sad," she muttered.

"What happened to your form?" he asked her as he lopsidedly jogged over to her. "Let's try again." He pedaled back and threw the ball a bit softer this time. The ball hit her bat this time, but instead of it lunging forward, it hit downwards. The ball rolled to Lucas and he picked it up, looking at it curiously. "You don't seem much of a hitter."

"It's _too_ hard!" she whined, letting the bat fall next to her legs. "You have to—like—swing it and stuff! And at the right time, and that's not including stupid stuff like velocity or whatever you call it, or wind speed."

"Stop thinking about the wind speed, Maya," Lucas laughed. "I'm thinking about the wind speed, I'm trying to pitch it to you perfectly so it's easy for you to hit."

Maya poked her boot with her bat. "See that? That's because of you."

"Your boot wasn't my fault," he stated, "plus, your boot has nothing to do with the wind speed and your arm strength."

"Then come over here and show me."

"Fine," Lucas grumbled, jogging over to her. Maya could distinctly smell him, he smelled like grass and dirt, and maybe a bit of grime and sweat. He turned over to her backside and reached over her body, grabbing her wrist in his hand. Maya tensed as his body almost enveloped hers in smell and physically. "Hey, hey," he said softly. "I'm not going to eat you whole."

Maya had nothing witty to say back in remark so she kept her comments to herself as Lucas placed her hands on the bat. He moved her biceps and her arms back and moved her feet as well with his. He was gentle with her, never giving her a rough attitude. He swung the bat a few times to indicate her form, before he stepped back from her.

Maya missed the warmth almost immediately before she shook the feeling from her head, squaring her shoulders. Lucas jogged over to the pitcher mound. He gave her a soft throw and Maya felt her arms swing forward. She watched the ball soar through the field and Lucas's eyes followed in awe. "You sure picked that up quick."

Maya's mouth rose as Lucas raced across the field to grab the ball rolling the grass. "I _do_ have a pretty great teacher."

After Lucas and Maya threw a few balls at each other and raced around the field like children, they finally collapsed in a distressed heap, basically on top of each other. "I can't believe I won tag six times. That's a new record."

Maya rolled her eyes and shifted her body so she would face him. "Hey, I have a broken foot, thanks to you. Plus, I'm a whole foot shorter than you."

"Whatever puts you to sleep at night, Blondie."

"Nice one," she muttered sarcastically, a light laugh lacing her breath. "Almost as good as Huckleberry."

"Almost," Lucas noted, turning his body so he would face her. The wind lightly tapped their faces, and the sky was starting to turn a deep black. If Maya checked her phone, it would read eight. "Did you have fun today?"

She nodded her head. She turned her body again so her back was on the grass and her eyes facing the sky. "Yeah," she responded honestly. "Today was good, even if I devoted it all to you."

"Good, that's good," he responded back, turning his body so he mirrored her. "Have you ever been star-gazing?" he asked her, staring up at the light-less night.

"No," she responded simply. "I've only ever been to New York and Jersey. There's not much star-gazing out here."

"I should take you sometime, you know," he told her. "To Texas, to meet my family. We have the best star-gazing there is."

"Is that an invitation to a date, because I remember us promising to keep this whole ordeal platonic."

Lucas's cheeks heated up at the suggestion. "No! Of course not," he promised. "Just a mini-vacation, a getaway, perhaps. From the New York air. You know it isn't good for you."

"The air?" Maya snorted, her hand lying out next to her lazily as she squinted for stars. "Trust me, I know. I've lived here my whole life and if you have, it's impossible not to know."

Without her permission, his body scooted closer to hers and their heads touched. It almost looked picturesque, if you asked him. Her boot touched his cleat, and she giggled at the thought. "You see that?" Lucas asked, squinting his eyes and pointing to a random blot in the sky.

Maya's eyes strained for a moment before she gave up. "Nope. Nothing."

"Neither do I. This counts as the worst star-gazing ever, but I'm pretty sure the North Star is supposed to be right there."

"And that," she responded wittily, grabbing his hand in the air and dragging it along to another point in the sky, "is called Huckleberry. It's my favorite constellation."

"Actually," Lucas reiterated, "I don't think there's a constellation there, much less is it called Huckleberry."

"See," Maya groaned, "this is why I call you Huckleberry, because you say shit like this." Lucas helped himself up. After he cleaned the dirt off of himself, he grabbed Maya's hands and dragged his body up to hers. She stumbled for a moment before she finally regained balance, but his hand held hers nonetheless.

"You ready to get going?"

Maya nodded her head. "That's probably a good idea."

They walked side by side with each other as they made their way to the back of the parking lot. "Hey, look at you. Able to hit a ball with a crippled foot," he laughed, hitting her side softly with his.

"Asshole," Maya grumbled and hit his side back. The walk back to the car was comfortable and silent. It was nearly freezing out, and Maya had to wrap herself in her arms multiple times. Before Lucas opened the door, he approached Maya with a few pieces of papers and handed them to her. "What are these?" she asked him.

"Those are from my teammates," he laughed. "They wanted me to give you their phone numbers."

Maya filed through the papers and laughed at them. "I'll make sure to keep note of these."

They were finally off after a long day; the car ride was spent in silence beside the music since Maya was conked out in her seat.

Once he finally pulled up to her apartment building, Lucas jerked the car to a stop and gently woke her up with a slight shake of her shoulder. "Maya," he whispered. "We're home."

"Home?" she grumbled groggily, rubbing her swollen head. "What time is it?"

"It's about eleven fifteen." Maya nodded her head and smacked her lips. "I'll walk you up."

"Oh," she said softly, collecting her thoughts as she stretched. "You don't need to."

"But I want to," he responded. Maya nodded her head as he unbuckled his seat belt and hopped to her side of the car, unbuckling her seat belt as well. He handed her her bag of peanuts and her number one mitten, grabbing her by her armpits and helping her descend carefully from his car.

"There you go kiddo," he said with a cheeky smile.

Maya patted his back in response, clearly unaware of her actions. She held onto his hand tightly as he led her up several staircases and elevators, finally reaching her apartment number. He grabbed the key from her hand after she unsuccessfully attempted to stuff the key in its socket. He turned it once and the apartment door sprung up, opening up to what he saw over twelve hours ago, nothing had changed.

"Is your mom home?" he asked her.

"Probably not," she muttered, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand. She grabbed her elastic from her hair and ripped it out, letting her hair fall loose. She also managed to kick off one of her shoes before she set the key down on the table next to her door. She turned around to face him and gave him a groggy smile, her hair sputtered wildly around her head. "Thanks, Lucas. Tonight was fun, no matter how much I don't want to admit it."

"Glad I can hear it from you."

"Don't bring it up, because I probably won't remember." Lucas laughed at her sleepy state as she headed towards her room, completely forgetting to close the door. Lucas closed the door for her, not before he heard her yell, "Thank you!" for the last time.

In her room, Maya took off her clothes and put on her pajamas in a sloth matter, slowly. She picked through her coat and noticed the stuff of papers in her pocket. It was thee collection of papers all of those boys had given her with their number. She looked back on her bed for a moment, where the number one mitten and the bag of peanuts hung out, and then back at the papers.

She decided to throw the papers away.

* * *

 **sorry for all of the spelling mistakes and grammar whatevers i didnt feel like correcting it a bunch zhzhz**


	5. week 4&7

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
 **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**  
5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
 **7\. get creative! paint fight**  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **October 23rd - October 29th**_

 **October 23rd**

Maya grunted loudly and hit silent on her phone. She was sure it was Riley texting her at this early in the morning, and she wasn't much for being woken up in early during the weekends. The night prior was all of a blurry haze, but all of the best nights were. She was sure she was drunk off of sleep deprivation the night prior, so it'd be interesting to talk to Lucas and see what she said.

Her head turned slightly as she peered at her door. The outlining of the door was traced with intricate drawings of flowers that were only partly colored in and some random geometric shapes. Placed in the center of it was a pink, laminated paper with a tac placed on the top to keep it there. Maya didn't remember putting it there, so Riley must've. She rolled her eyes and threw her sheets off of her body, wading her way through her completely messy room to the pink paper.

It was the list Riley gave her for the twelve-week thing. She hadn't even been keeping up on it, Lucas was the one to do that. She looked through the tasks, and with a sharpie she found on the floor, she crossed out the first three. Girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of her hobbies. Maya hadn't even thought about it in the first place, doing something that she enjoyed with Lucas.

Maya heard her a buzz from her right and relented to Riley. She grabbed her phone from her bedside table and checked the time. 9:41.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 6:39 AM  
** **seen: 9:41 AM  
** Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up!

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 7:11 AM  
** **seen: 9:41 AM  
** Seriously, how do you sleep this late? It's amazing.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 7:59 AM  
** **seen: 9:41 AM  
** You're like a sleep machine. I don't understand. I think you need sleep therapy

 **from: pumpkin?  
sent: 8:12 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**I just had a thought! Why are you sleeping in so late? Is it because you were OUT getting frisky with your little cowboy husky?

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 8:34 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**OMG! Are you still at his place? Blink once if you're in danger!

 **from: pumpkin?  
sent: 8:35 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**Oh wait. Sorry, I forgot this is over text. Kisses

 **from: pumpkin?  
sent: 9:21 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**Seriously where are you Maya? I'm this close to calling the cops! And I swear if they show me your dead body I'm killing you! And your cowboy friend!

 **from: pumpkin?  
sent: 9:36 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**I missssssss you :(

 **from: pumpkin?  
sent: 9:41 AM  
seen: 9:41 AM  
**This is your last chance to answer me or see my texts because I'm calling the police on your cowboy friend!

 **from: PEACHES! :*  
** **sent: 9:43 AM  
** **seen: 9:43 AM  
** you okay there jitterbug? i was just sleeping in late.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 9:43 AM  
** **seen: 9:44 AM  
** There she is! The lady in question. Answer your door, I'm knocking.

Maya heard a distinct knock from outside of her room and grumbled as she stumbled out of her ridden mess and made her way toward the door. Riley sure was quick. Maya eventually made her way to the front door, not without three more texts from Riley telling her to hurry up, and she opened up the door to reveal a perfectly groomed brunette. Her hair was pinned back neatly with soft curls framing her face. She had a light jacket on and she was smiling, her hand dropping to her side. "I missed you!" she said, enveloping her best friend in a hug. "Sorry for the early morning texts, this is urgent."

Maya rolled her eyes and opened the door wide enough so Riley could stumble in. She paid no mind to the half eaten pizza on the counter and instead flopped on the old and dusty couch dramatically, sighing. "I should really get you your own key," Maya muttered, flopping down next to her. "What's up, jitterbug?"

" _So_ many things, to start off with. Let's start with the first. How was last night?"

Maya's cheeks flushed at the thought. Granted, nothing _frisky_ happened, as Riley would put it, but just the thought of last night made her shiver. It was fun. A lot more fun than she had expected. Maya poked at her boot nervously and smiled under her hair. "It was good," she finally responded. "I had a good time."

"Tell me you didn't make out and do the...deal under the bleachers after they won!"

Maya gagged at the thought. "No, you freak. We didn't have sex under the bleachers." Riley smiled mischievously and clapped her hands together. "What else is on your mind?"

"Halloween is in eight days, give or take a few hours," she checked her watch and nodded. "And what's crazy, is that you haven't even spoken a word of the holiday in question for the last month! I'm surprised, Halloween is your favorite holiday!"

Shit. Maya was dreading Riley bringing up Halloween. Normally, they went as a duo costume while they went trick-or-treating together. Last year, Maya was a costume of fries and Riley was ketchup. _However_ , and Maya could feel herself drawl out the word in her head, Maya wanted to do something different this year. Granted, they were seniors now and it was only logical to go the Halloween party that that guy named Ricky held every year. And she had another costume in mind, probably different than Riley's fantastic duo costume she was probably gushing over.

"Riley," Maya said softly, taking her hand in hers. She had no idea how to break the news since they had always gone as a duo pair since they met in the first grade. "I know you probably have a million and a half ideas of what you want us to go do for Halloween and dress up as, but I was thinking maybe we could shake it up a little this year, y'know?"

Riley swiped her hand away from Maya's, her face covered with hurt. Riley was excellent at jumping to conclusions. "Are you _friend_ breaking up with me? After _all_ we've been through?" Riley began to bawl and Maya had no way to respond to her outburst.

"Riley, what—?"

Her hands were in a fist up to her eyes and she began to _sob_. "Is - is it b - because I - I send you so many texts? I - I promise I - I'll s - stop!"

"Riley!" Maya yelped, grabbing her hands away from her face. "Stop being so crazy! I'm not breaking up with you!"

Riley frowned for a moment as Maya watched the soft tears roll down her porcelain face. "Oh," she said, a sudden smile erupting on her face. "That's good, then. What did you want to say?"

Maya rolled her eyes at Riley's common and sudden outburst and dropped her hands from hers. "I was talking about Halloween. I don't want to go trick-or-treating this year."

Riley frowned at the thought and rubbed her palm against her head. "Why?" she asked. "This is all so sudden. We've been trick-or-treating since we have been able to walk."

"It's not only that," Maya grimaced, preparing for Riley's total meltdown when she mentioned she didn't want to go as a duo. "I don't want to go as a duo."

Maya closed her eyes tight in prepare for impact. She waited a few moments for her meltdown but was surprised when it didn't come at all. She opened one eye, and then the other, to surprisingly see Riley smiling. "Oh thank _god_ ," she muttered eventually. "Charlie wanted to go as a couple, and I told him we couldn't have because I thought you wanted to go as a duo. But that's better now, and fixed. And what about the Halloween trick-or-treating? What do you want to do instead?"

"You know that kid Ricky Ashton? I think he's in my gym class. He throws a Halloween party every year the night of Halloween and until the wee hours of the morning. I thought it would be fun to, you know, get out of your comfort zone, with Charlie, of course."

Riley clapped at the idea. "Oh! That's a good idea, so we can bring plus ones?"

"It's not that kind of party, Riles," Maya rolled her eyes. "But sure, Charlie can be your plus one."

Riley smiled at her best friend fondly and held her hands in hers. "Yes! This is such a good idea. Embrace our seniority and get out of the house! Ooh, this Charlie and I couple costume is all so sudden! I'll have to come up with a creative and out of there costume in eight days, and that's not even including all of the events in between! I—!"

"Riley, jitterbug, take a breath and cool your horn."

Riley nodded her head and took a deep intake of breath. "Thanks, Maya, I needed that. Even if it's not the saying."

"Whatever," she grunted. "Just take something you and I wore the years previous and make it for a cute little couple. Or just go to the costume barn and pick something out with him."

"So I won't be hand sewing it myself?" she whined. "I _always_ hand sew our costumes!"

"Sadly, I don't think you have enough time. You can always readjust the costume or return it if you don't like it."

Riley finally nodded her head in an agreement, albeit a small pout laced her lips. "So, what about you, huh? What were you planning without lil' ol' me?"

"You sound just like Lucas," Maya mumbled under her breath, laughing to herself softly. Luckily, Riley didn't hear her and didn't insinuate any questions. "Oh, nothing. It's not a big deal, I'm not even sure if I was going to do it. It was more out of spite and to annoy someone and to see their reaction."

"Lucas?" Riley questioned her with a small smile, her eyebrow slightly raised. Maya had to fight the heat creeping up on her cheeks.

"No - no," she sputtered uselessly. "It doesn't have to do with Lucas."

"You're a terrible liar," Riley noted and nodded her head. Getting up from the couch. "That's all I came by to talk to you about. I also wanted to know what you were planning to do this Saturday."

"I don't know," she mumbled, looking through her phone. "Probably catch up on some missing sleep. Maybe study for Calc."

"Wrong answer. It's girl choice, remember? You should think about it over the weekend and tell Lucas."

/

 **October 28th**

Maya had thought about the girl's choice the whole week and finally decided upon what to do the day before the last day of the week. She was hoping on her lucky stars that Lucas didn't have a baseball tourney that day.

"Lucas," Maya said, grabbing his arm and pulling him next to her near her locker. "Hey Huckleberry," she smiled cheekily, feeling his warmth radiate from his body due to his proximity. She always forgot how tall he was.

"Maya," Lucas smiled back. "What's up?"

"Okay, so," she said, preparing herself. "Girls choice is tomorrow, and I know you think I probably forgot, but I didn't, because I was thinking about what to do. And it took me a week, I know, which is totally lame, but I was wondering if we could hang out tomorrow? Baseball tourney?"

"I think so," he groaned, rubbing his hand behind his neck. "I'd have to check with my coach, but I think it's in state and really near. It starts at four, so I would probably have to ditch at around three. Is that okay?"

Maya smiled as Lucas attempted to accommodate so he could hang out with her. "That's fine, we'll probably be done by then."

"That's good," he breathed in relief. He suddenly got flustered and his cheeks heated up. "Hey, uh, Maya... I was wondering... if... uh..."

"What's wrong, Cowboy?" she teased, stepping closer into his personal space, where there was almost none left. Their bodies were basically plastered against each other, and if you were to look at them from another angle, you'd probably think they were making out.

"Since we're going to be hanging out anyway," he muttered, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to my game with me?"

"Sure thing, Huckleberry," she teased him some more. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

Lucas's cheeks heated up some more as he looked down at her; she was biting her lip. She needed to stop.

"Get a room!" they heard a voice bounce behind them. Maya suddenly sprung back from Lucas, putting a whole person length between them. Her head whipped around, looking for a source of the sound, but found none as everyone was staring at them. Now, Maya's cheeks were heated up as she drew the attention from everyone.

"I've got to...uh...go," she sputtered, grabbing her bag off of the floor and peering around at everyone that was staring at the duo. "Pick me up at nine tomorrow."

"See you then, Blondie."

/

 **October 29th**

Maya stumbled out of bed at 8:45 and was hoping that Lucas was somehow late for the first time. She suddenly wished there was the classic New York traffic, in her favor. Riley had bugged her the day prior while they were hanging out about what she called the "Lucas hallway incident". She wanted to know details, but Riley had heard from Suzy Gashro who heard from one of the deaf students who had heard from the deaf teacher who heard from the whole class, so obviously a bit of her information was skewed.

By the time it had gotten around to Maya, apparently, she had made out with Lucas in front of a teacher and got expulsion. She was a bit hazy of the details.

Maya finally finished putting up her hair as Lucas knocked on the door, precisely at 9:00; she grumbled at his punctuality. Lucas was standing out there with his signature goofy smile, as well as a white package in his hands.

"Did lil' ol' Huckleberry get lil' ol' me a gift?"

Lucas shook his head and handed the package to her. "Sadly, no. It was left out on your doorstep, but if you want me to get you a gift, I could stop by somewhere."

Maya rolled her eyes and snatched the package away from his hands, checking the tag. "You're such a Huckleberry," she grumbled, moving the box slightly. "And, no, I have you. I don't need a gift," she teased.

"What's in the package then? Do you have a secret admirer?"

"Jealous much?" Maya grumbled, setting down the package on the counter. "No, it's just my Halloween costume." Maya followed him out the door as he closed it behind her. They walked next to each other down her apartment building, just like they had so many times before.

"Are you still not telling me what it is?"

"Nope," she said, popping the p as she stumbled into the car. "It's a surprise, especially for you. Speaking of Halloween, Ricky is having a Halloween party. Are you going?"

"Of course," he scoffed. He turned the ignition and drove his way through the parking lot. "Where to?"

Maya handed him her phone with the directions from Siri on it. He looked at it once and smiled at her. "An art exhibition?"

"Only from the best," she said. "What are you going as again?"

"That's a surprise for you as well," he said, making a left turn so he could place on the freeway. This time, they weren't as lucky, and Maya suddenly wasn't wishing there was New York traffic. They were backed up, of course. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go together," she said, having a sudden interest in her nails. "You know, to the party, like as a group."

"Hmmm?" he asked her, his eyes paying attention the traffic backup.

"Me, Riley, Charlie, you. Probably Zay and Farkle, and his girlfriend. We could go together. Our groups."

"Okay," Lucas nodded his head. "That sounds like a good idea," he promised, his eyes crinkling slightly as he smiled at her.

It was 9:52 when they arrived. Once Lucas locked the car, he followed her in time with her step as she ambled up to the art exhibition. "No one's here," Lucas noted, paying attention to the lack of cars in the parking lot. "Are we in the right place?"

"Of course, you dumb Huckleberry."

"Are we early?" he asked her.

"Well, due to your infringement on my plans, we had to speed up our day a little bit. We're getting a special sneak peek."

"Oh!" Lucas said eagerly, following behind Maya as she made her way to the back door of the exhibition. "Are they letting you in early? That's nice."

Maya grunted and rolled her eyes at how naive he was. She fumbled with the keys in her hand and stuck one into his hole, twisting it sharply and opening the door with a groan. Maya whipped around her head to Lucas and gave him a stern look. Her forefinger was up to her lips indicating to him that he should stay hush.

Lucas looked at her curiously and grabbed the keys from her hands before she could protest. "Hey!" she said, bouncing up and trying to catch the keys from his hands. He was much taller than her, so grabbing the keys wouldn't be an issue for him.

"Are we doing something _illegal_?" he gasped, looking around at the lack of cars. "Breaking and entering isn't legal."

"Listen, you big doofus," she said, finally giving up and giving herself a breath. "Your baseball tourney so _rudely_ interrupted what I planned this evening. The art exhibition was _right_ smack in the middle of your tourney. And it isn't breaking and entering if you have keys."

"Where'd you get them anyway?"

"The keys? I got them off of someone. I don't remember who, the details are kind of hazy."

Lucas's eyes nearly bulged out of his head and Maya had to refrain herself from laughing. "You _stole_ a set of keys from someone! That's also illegal, I have half of a mind to turn you in!"

"It wasn't... _stealing_ ," she muttered, reaching up to grab the keys from his hand but failing as he reached them farther above her head. "More so borrowing. And that's not even the point. You're literally the most Texas person I know. Give me back the keys, Lucas."

"No."

"Give _them_ back," she said angrily, stomping her sprained foot on the ground. "You wouldn't say no to a cripple, would you?"

"You're _hardly_ crippled," he sneered. "And no."

"Give it to me."

"Or _what_?" he taunted, dangling the keys above her head menacingly. She was about to tear his arm off.

Maya pushed his body against the brick wall, listening to the cars whirring past on the freeway next to them. He smiled at her mischievously, still dangling the keys above her blonde head. "Come on, Lucas," she said in a low voice, her lip pouting. "Don't be mean," she whispered against the shell of his ear, her arms slightly riding up his shirt.

Lucas felt a sudden bulge in his pants. He had no idea what she was playing at, but he needed her to stop. She kissed under his jaw lightly, moving her hands slowly up his abdomen. He relished the feeling of her soft, taut flesh against his. He felt the friction of her blonde hair rub against his bicep and before he knew it, the metal keys were snatched straight from his grip.

One moment, Maya's body was pressed against his, and the other, Maya was smiling cheekily at the base of the door.

"How'd you—how'd you do that?"

"You're a boy," she shrugged. "Any sex appeal gets you guys to your knees."

Lucas gaped at her in awe.

"C'mon," she said, opening the door slightly to the darkened building. "Don't gape at me like a codfish, I want to show you something." She opened it wider so he could slide through easily. He felt his shirt slide up against hers and he felt heated again. He needed to stop acting like a twelve-year-old.

Maya stumbled around the room for a bit in the dark along the walls, searching for a light switch. Once she found it she smiled giddily and switched it on, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden light. The lights turned on slowly, one at a time. The one farthest away from Lucas turned on first, then the one next to it, and continuing on. His eyes flooded with light as he adjusted to the sight around him.

His eyes swirled with paintings and images of the white walls, decked with several types of art. To the right of him was contemporary, and to the left was classical. It was a weird sort of mixture in the middle, with the header above it indicating life stories. Maya found his way next to him and smiled. "I know it's illegal," she began to say, "but—"

"It's beautiful," he promised, his eyes still entrapped with the beauty of the paintings surrounding him. "It's beautiful," he said again.

"I know," she said, sighing. "This is where I come to think."

"You break in often?"

She shrugged and sighed. "I didn't _steal_ the keys, by the way. Last year, some doofus dropped them while closing the exhibition. I found them at the doorstep and tried to give them back to him but I couldn't find him. I figured he made a new set of keys so one day I kind of just... I know it's bad but I just _came_ , you know? When I wanted to get away. They change it up every month or so, with new submissions. It's really nice to just go away and think."

"Ever thought of buying a ticket?" he joked, shoving her side slightly with his shoulder.

"Yeah, can't afford it," she laughed softly, a strange tone to her words.

"Oh!" Lucas said suddenly. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry. Sorry."

Maya rolled her eyes. "You're such a fucking Huckleberry. Sometimes I can't stand you."

"I'd say the feeling is mutual."

Maya smiled up at him as he teased her. She felt pulled to him in a way, even though it sounded cliché. Maybe the universe liked her for once and decided that maybe she could be happy. Maybe. "Come on," she said, grabbing his hand as she dragged him to the other side of the exhibition. "I have something to show you." Maya's hair whipped behind her as she pulled him to the opposite side of the exhibition. She led him to a purple painting, one that caught his eye earlier.

The painting was rather visual and Lucas understood the meaning immediately. The painting was a swirl of purple, mixed in with dark blues. There was a shadow of a girl and a bed; she was praying. Her hair was curled softly and kept around her ear. If Lucas were to interpret the age, he'd say she was about five or six. The door of her room was slightly ajar and outside of the door was yellow, a bright light. He saw streaks of reds and oranges, and a man outside of the door as well. He was angry, he could see with the way he stood.

The painting was coated with soft pieces of a glass bottle. His eyes wandered down to the alleged painter. _Anonymous_.

"This is yours?" he asked her, gaping at her softly. She had talent, there was no doubt about it. And it was a wonder what the painting held behind it. All the years of abuse that he had no idea about, everything she must have endured.

"Yeah," she shrugged nonchalantly, smacking her gum. "It's mine. Not one of my favorites, though. I just wanted to get that one out of my room so I sent it for submission. Never thought they'd feature it, though."

"This is amazing," Lucas stared at her in awe. "That's—" he stopped for a second, "I don't understand. Why wouldn't you want your name recognized?"

She stood still for a moment, thinking. "I just—I didn't feel like it, that's all." She shrugged, peering at her painting softly. "Everyone here," she muttered, her eyes not straying from the image of her on her bed praying, "has a story. They all have something to share, something to tell. And I'm not ready to share mine."

"Yet you shared the art piece anyway. Why?"

The room grew silent as Maya refused to speak. Lucas felt the art look at him, consume him, as he looked at her, looking at the masterpiece she created. He never understood her, and he wasn't sure he ever would. Maybe that's what he loved, maybe he loved the mystery.

"I want to know someone out there went through what I went through," she finally responded, picking up the courage to look at him. Her smile was soft, and perhaps a bit broken. A few tears managed to escape her eyes and she sniffled, remembering her past. Remembering how fucked up her life used to be.

Before Maya could pull away from his space, he grabbed her hand and wrapped his arms around her. He, honestly, had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he _hated_ seeing her sad, absolutely _loathed_ it. And maybe he wanted to hold her, too.

"You're a good guy, Lucas," she said, her voice breaking slightly, muffled up due to the material of his shirt. "You're a good guy."

/

Maya made Lucas drive to the school, for some reason. He was confused as of why since he was certain that she hated school. It wasn't like it was any secret.

"Of course I hate school, you dumb Huckleberry. I swear to god, I'm a fucking genius because I have never seen one person act more like a Huckleberry than you. It fits so damn well."

"Then _please_ do inform why we're going to school at noon on a Saturday. You're a mess."

Maya rolled her eyes and hit him softly on the shoulder as he turned in the street of the school. "You really think that the only keys I have are to the art exhibition and my house? You're so dull-minded. Think a bit bigger."

Lucas parked near the front of the lot, yanking the key out of the ignition and giving the blonde girl a stern look. "Maya, I swear to god if you have keys to the school, I _will_ throw you in jail myself."

"You're no fun," she whined, hopping out of the car and bounding her way towards the school.

Lucas grunted and trudged out of the car, meeting Maya at the entry of the school. "Please tell me we're not going to trash the school. Because I know one of your hobbies is disobeying rules, or whatever, but I'm not going to—"

"Shut up, won't you?" she hissed at him, annoyed, twisting the key in the socket and opening the door with a pop. "Trust me, I've got plenty more keys to places you would like me to not have keys to, but we'll divulge into that subject another day. Just follow me and I promise we don't do anything illegal."

Lucas groaned and closed the door behind him, following her as she weaseled her way through halls and opened several doors with the master key. "Where'd you get it anyway?" he asked her as he helped her up the staircase. "The master key, I mean."

"Principal's office. I was going to save it for senior prank day, but I guess today is a special occasion enough. Come on, you grandma. You walk so slow."

She finally presented herself to the art hall and smiled widely, looking back at him with a slight spark in her eyes. She led the way to the end of the hall and to a secluded classroom. She yanked the door open once and Lucas felt the strong fumes of the paints flooded his nose. She turned on the lights and his eyes flooded with the colored ceiling, painted with hues of reds and blues.

"Where are we?"

"This is my little go-to during school hours when I need to get away from everyone. Only Riley knows about it, besides me. And I guess you now."

Lucas's hand grazed against the wall, feeling the slight bumps of the now dry paint. "That explains why you're never in class."

"Hey," she defended herself, grabbing something behind a purple curtain. "A girl's gotta clear her mind when she needs to." She pulled out a white canvas with a purple painting of a cat. "This is Riley's if you couldn't tell."

Lucas reached over and grabbed the painting from Maya's hands, inspecting it. He saw the sloppy signature traced on the bottom most right corner of the canvas. He smiled as he read the back, flipping over the painting. Written in neat pen read: _for Maya, if you ever think your paintings aren't good enough. Look at mine and pity me_.

Maya pulled two blank canvases from a bin and pulled some paints and brushes from under a table. She handed the materials to Lucas as she shuffled around the room, dragging chairs and easels to place their materials on. She flipped her hair up in a ponytail, then smiled at him.

"Let's paint," she smiled cheekily, grabbing the chair from behind her and plopping down. Lucas followed her motions and sat next to her, their shoulders almost touching with proximity.

"Am I going to get paint on my jeans? They're designer."

"You fucking Huckleberry," she groaned. "Of course you're going to get paint on your jeans. All of my jeans are paint-ridden. Put on your big boy briefs and shut up."

Maya moved her boot slightly to kick the empty paint cans out of her way.

"How's that foot holding up, anyway?"

"This old thing?" Maya asked him, lifting up her foot slightly to inspect it. "I think I have an appointment tomorrow just to check up and then I get it off the next week."

Lucas smiled at her, then frowned; a thought dawned on him. He had no idea what the fuck to paint, not that he was a good painter, anyway. "What's wrong, Huckleberry?" the blonde asked him while she mixed a few colors on a piece of paper.

"I play baseball. I don't paint. What am I supposed to paint?"

"Well, you see," Maya said, turning her head to look at him, "that's all up to you, I suppose. Whatever's on your mind."

She turned back to her paper and mixed. He had decided to do what he loved: baseball.

After a good hour of painting, Maya wiped her paint hands on her jeans. A soft tune was playing on Maya's phone previously, to get her into the mood. "I think that's good. You have a baseball tourney to get to."

"Oh," Lucas said, his cheeks heating up as he gazed at his painting. His was complete shit compared to hers.

"Let me see," she grunted, grabbing his hand and trying to pull it away from his painting. Lucas neglected her hand and held onto his canvas tightly. He looked over at hers, covered in hues of purples and pinks. She wasn't done quite yet, but he could tell that she was approaching. Each line was meticulously thought out and crafted, and his painting looked like a five-year-old painted it, and shit on it.

"No," he said, yanking the painting back. "It's embarrassing."

"Trust me, you've been plenty embarrassing with all of the time I've known you. This can't be much worse."

Lucas finally relented and sighed, giving up some slack on his canvas. "Alright," he grunted. "I'll show it to you but you can't laugh or make fun of it."

Maya raised her eyebrows and shot her hands up in mock defense. "Okay, Cowboy. No promises, though."

Lucas rolled his eyes and twisted the canvas in his hands, letting Maya take a peek. He knew what her reaction would be, but it still stung, nonetheless. It was a sloppy painting of a baseball, with drooping lines of red and smeared strokes of white; you couldn't even tell the white was there in the first place since the canvas they used was white. Written under it was a sloppy rendition of his signature.

"Oh, Lucas, honey," Maya stuttered, biting back the laugh in her throat. "It's... um... it's wonderful."

"Don't lie!" he whined. "It's horrible."

"Okay, it's certainly a keepsake."

Lucas felt horrible, for some reason. He was probably acting like a five-year-old. He hated being embarrassed in front of her. His lip pouted sadly and his eyebrows furrowed angrily. "I'm horrible."

Maya had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing. Something about how sad he was about how horrible his painting was really made her laugh. "Don't be like that," she laughed softly. "We all have our talents. Yours is obviously baseball."

"Hey!" Lucas said defensively, and before he could think about it, he grabbed a glob of yellow paint and hurtled it towards Maya. It landed between her breasts, dripping down underneath and over her new shirt.

Maya's eyes widened in anger at the realization of what he had done. "What... the... _fuck_!" she yelled, wiping the paint slightly away from her chest.

"Oh..." Lucas said, backing up slightly to attempt to avoid her wrath. "Oh my god," he muttered. "I—I didn't mean to."

Her eyes shot up from her chest and deep into his eyes, her gaze anything but sweet. "You fucking shitbag!" Before Lucas could blink, Maya already had the paint can in her hand, standing next to him. It all felt slow motion, as Lucas felt the cascade of purple drip down his perfectly crafted hair. He felt the stickiness cling to his skin and he felt Maya's breath on his chest.

Once she dumped out the whole bucket on top of his body, she threw it to the ground and crossed her arms in front of her paint ridden chest. "How does it feel, Huckleberry?"

"Maya!" Lucas yelled, mad. "I have a game in, like, a fucking hour!"

She stepped into his personal space, almost mixing the purple and yellows of their bodies. "Maybe you should have thought of that," she said angrily, poking her finger into his chest, "before you decided to throw paint on me!"

"It was an accident!"

Maya looked at his lashes, covered in purple. She fucking hated him. "How the _fuck_ would throwing paint be an accident? Are you that goddamn stupid?"

Lucas had enough of her and grabbed the red to his right, dripping it down her head. Maya gasped loudly, feeling the whole can drip down her body. Now her new shirt was definitely ruined.

"Ugh!" Maya stomped, grabbing the paintbrush on her easel and flicking paint droppings on his face.

Lucas grabbed the paintbrush from her hand and wiped down her face in one huge stroke, going from the top of her head to the bottom of her breast. Maya gaped at him angrily, noting the striking colors that covered her body. "It's on, you Cowboy!" she said, finally over his arrogance. She grabbed a random color from her right, she didn't pay mind to it, and threw the whole can on him, dropping it as soon as she his reaction.

He was _mad_. So was she.

Lucas grabbed something from his right, he didn't know what, but he only hoped his was paint. He threw it on her and it splashed all over her jeans. She grabbed a pink and splattered it on his; so much for the designer. He laughed as she struggled to reach atop the cabinet to grab another can of paint. He stepped next to her and swooped the can away from her grasp, pouring it on top of her already rainbow covered head.

She snatched the paint from his hands and stuck her hand in the bucket, smearing it all over his face.

It continued like that for awhile, throwing different art supplies and colors toward the opposite one. Maya wasn't so mad anymore, but she wasn't going to let him win. Maya was pelting something she found in the corner at him before Lucas finally breathed in surrender.

"Okay, crazy lady!" Lucas yelled, coming out from his shelter of a table with his hands up. The table was dripping with all of Maya's misses. There wasn't a point on Lucas's body where he wasn't covered in paint, which Maya prided herself in. She stared at him and held the tools next to her body. "I surrender. I give up. You win."

"Is that so?" she asked him, coming into his personal space to look at him gleefully. They weren't mad anymore. "Are you saying that _I_ won?"

"Yes," Lucas muttered through his lips, noticing how close they were. They were breathing the same air, and the colors from their body were mixing into browns. Her face was stained with pinks and purples, her hair covered in blues and greens. He noticed the color of her eyes, though. Something that touched the ocean and the sky. He decided that out of all of the colors from her body, that her eyes was his favorite.

Before Maya could wittily respond to him, he grabbed a glob of orange paint from behind him and smashed it on her head, watching it drip down to her pink lips.

"I knew it!" she groaned, stepping away from him. He missed their warmth. "Okay, honestly, I surrender. For now. This isn't over."

She grabbed her phone from its safety spot and checked the time. "We should get going. We're going to be cutting it close if you even want to get to the game."

"Ah _shit_ ," Lucas muttered, running his blue hand through his red hair and making a purple. "We need to go. And I need to take a shower. Your house is by the field, can I take a shower there?"

Maya rolled her eyes and nodded her head, stocking away the two paintings into the cabinet and grabbing two towels as well so they wouldn't stain his car.

It had seemed they had accidentally checked off two tasks in one night. Girls choice and paint fight. Maya wasn't sure if that counted since it was two in one, but she counted it. Which only shed her time she would spend with Lucas down.

/

Lucas managed to show up five minutes before the game, his hair still stained blue. It was the best he could do with the little time he had left to clean up. He bolted to the bathrooms and changed, running back to the field where his team was waiting for him.

"There's our star player," the coach said, slapping Lucas on the back. "Where have you been? And why do you look like a rainbow assaulted you?"

Lucas wiped at his cheek in an attempt to get the paint away. "Sorry," he muttered, watching little flecks of paint fall next to his cleats. "I got kind of distracted." He moved his head slightly to look at Maya, still covered in colors. Her head was lazily propped up on her hand as she scrolled through her phone. She stopped for a moment, feeling his gaze.

She looked up at him and through his team and smiled.

And he smiled back.


	6. week 5

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
 **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**  
 **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**  
6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!  
 **7\. get creative! paint fight**  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **October 30th - November 5th**_

 **October 30th**

Maya filed through the box in her hand, picking out the pieces of her Halloween costume. She smiled, picking up the boots and setting them next to her. Halloween was the next day, and she had seriously wondered what Lucas was going as.

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 11:23 AM  
** **seen: 11:23 AM  
** Please tell me what you're going as! The suspense is too much! :(

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 11:24 AM  
** **seen: 11:24 AM  
** im afraid youre going to have to wait. see you tomorrow at school?

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 11:24 AM  
** **seen: 11:26 AM  
** Did you change your contact name in my phone?!

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 11:26 AM  
** **seen: 11:26 AM  
** mayyyybeeee. see you then cowboy!

 **October 31st**

Finals, dreadfully, were the same day as Halloween, which made Maya resent all of her teachers. Luckily, they had scored rightfully and they wouldn't have school for the rest of the week; probably to make up for the finals they forced to them on Halloween day.

Maya threaded her hair one last time and let a little laugh escape her lips as she looked in the mirror. She was really hoping Lucas liked her costume or hated it. Either one would do.

Riley had picked her up a few minutes later. She noted the way Maya hopped into her car, a slight bounce to her foot. And she couldn't _dare_ forget the costume, which Maya had been chattering on about for weeks, she even refused to tell her what it was! But looking at the pair of boots and the tight-knitted braids, it was hard not to smile. "You're _whipped_ ," Riley muttered, turning the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot.

"I am _not_!" Maya defended herself quickly, her cheeks easily flushed with color. "I'm just trying to bug him."

"Yeah, okay," Riley muttered sarcastically, turning on her blinker to switch lines. "Whatever puts you to sleep at night."

Riley had parked the car in the school parking lot a few minutes later. As they walked into the school, Maya caught eye of everyone's costumes. Riley and Charlie were sporting some weird Angel-Devil look, Smackle and Farkle were a pair of scientists, Zay was simply wearing his baseball tee.

Her eye searched for Lucas. The most important part of the day wasn't the reveal of his outfit, more so his reaction toward hers. She would barely admit it, despite the fact that it was true, but she had planned her costume for him.

She felt his warm pressure on her bicep and smiled. "Hey there, Blondie," he said, letting Maya turn herself around. It wasn't too hard for Lucas to collect the pieces when he had seen her hat, but his reaction was delayed when he saw the front part of her costume.

"Hey there, Cowboy," she said, slightly shifting her weight to stand steadily on her cowboy boot. "What do you think of my costume?"

Her hair was tied tightly into two braids, she had one ankle boot on for her sprained ankle and another cowboy boot to complete her ensemble. She wore a short, brown dress that came mid-thigh. The tufts of her dress were white and she wore a brown cowboy hat to top it all off.

"You're trying to bug me, aren't you?" he asked her, his head titled slightly to look at her. Despite the serious question and the ounce of annoyance in his eyes, he was smiling.

"Only a little," she responded, scrunching her nose. She looked at his stained shirt and his muss of hair, along with his jeans that they stained two days prior. "And what're you supposed to be?" she asked curiously, grabbing his shirt and pulling him toward her to inspect it.

"I was trying to be an artist, it didn't turn out so well. I should've cut off my ear like Picasso."

"That was Van Gogh," she muttered, looking up at him. "The point is that you tried. It's cute."

Maya pulled away from him as Riley approached the pair with a stack of books in her arms. She took one glance at the duo and a large smile erupted on her face. "Now, that's just darling. You two dressed up as the other one for Halloween. Hold on, hold my books; I'm going to take a picture." Riley set her books down quickly and snatched her phone out of her pocket to take a picture of the matching pair, but she wasn't quick enough. Maya swiped Riley's phone from her hands and shoved it in Lucas's jean pocket.

But, Riley was right. They totally _did_ dress as each other. Maya's cheeks heated up at the realization. They were so damn cliché. "I was just trying to _bug_ him," she repeated herself from earlier, their arms touching due to proximity.

"Same thing with her, but I think my costume was a dud. I didn't even get the ear."

"You two are so _darn_ cute," Riley smiled, snatching her phone away from Lucas. "Hey, good luck on the finals. Also, who's driving tonight?"

"Not me," Maya sputtered quickly, rolling her eyes. "I need to get so drunk I forget the quadratic formula, which will be basically impossible since Miss Bracken drilled that dumb song in our head." She hummed the quadratic formula song for emphasis. "Ugh."

"Not me either," Riley responded, shaking her head.. "Charlie and I have _very_ clear intentions of getting further than second base tonight, and I need to drink alcohol to get passed my nerves."

Maya looked up at Lucas and bat her eyes, nudging his arm slightly. Lucas shook his head, frowning. "No! I'm not gonna drive!"

"You drive me everywhere, anyway!"

Lucas gave her a stern look. "That's more the reason _not_ to drive. I'm not your uber."

Maya frowned and stomped her foot next to Lucas's. At some points, she was so damn annoying. And those bright, blue eyes weren't helping him either. "Please?" she pouted, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Lucas rolled his eyes and groaned. He was _definitely_ not resistant to Maya, that had to be a problem. "Fine. But _please_ do not barf in my car."

Maya smiled mischievously.

/

Riley and Maya were seated at Maya's couch, watching some old Disney Halloween movie that popped up on the TV. Riley sipped her way-too-early eggnog and kicked her head back, looking at the brown stains on the ceiling. "Okay," she said, already feeling a bit tipsy due to the drink despite the fact they hadn't even gone to the party yet, "tell me honestly. Are you in love with Lucas?"

"How drunk _are_ you?" Maya laughed, prying away the eggnog away from Riley's hands. "Chill for a moment, won't you?"

"You didn't even answer my question," she groaned, rolling over on her stomach. "Are _you_ ," she stopped for a moment, blinking once, "in _love_ —"

Riley was interrupted due to the knock on Maya's door. Maya sprung up from Riley, quickly avoiding the conversation as Riley grunted, her head lolling to her side. She was on the fast track to black-out drunk already and they hadn't even arrived that the party. Maya opened the door, her braids placed under hat softly.

"Hey there," Lucas said, peeking around her to look at Riley on the coach. " _Already_?" he groaned, rubbing his hand over her face.

"She's quick," Maya noted, looking back at her brunette best friend on the couch. "It isn't that bad, though, we should probably get going."

Lucas nodded his head and watched Maya go as she picked Riley off from the couch and grabbed her shoes, slipping them on each of her feet. "Riley, I swear to god if you fall while you walk down to the parking lot, I'm not helping you up and you can stay there."

"Fair enough," she hiccuped, grabbing Maya's shoulder for support.

They successfully made it to his car without any Riley accidents. Maya popped in a CD she had in her hand in his player while he turned the ignition, pulling out and driving a few miles south to Ricky's apartment. It was quickly approaching midnight, only a few more hours, which would be the apex of the party. If that was even so, since Ricky's parties usually got busted before then.

Lucas pulled up a block away from the expensive apartment complex. They met Charlie at the entrance of Ricky's apartment and handed Riley off to him, as she was already grabbing drinks from people's hands. Maya and Lucas exchanged a look as Riley lobbed around Ricky's apartment, hearing the thud of the beat in their ears.

"How are you going to walk around here with your foot?"

"I've had this thing for, like, five weeks. I'm sure I'll survive," she responded, looking around at everyone. People were either getting high, drinking, passed out, or making out. She missed the party scene. She had faltered away from it during her relationship with Josh, since he was kind of controlling and didn't let her get drunk.

"If you need anything, you tell me, alright?" he told her, grabbing her hand and turning her body to face him. "I'll beat anyone up if I need to."

Maya laughed, removing her hand away from his. She didn't like the way her hand felt heated under his touch, she thought she should blame it on the packed room full of body heat. "I haven't been to a party in _ages_ ," she groaned, removing her hat from her head and handing it to Lucas. He held it carefully in his hands, looking at her curiously as she removed the braids from her hair, making her hair crimped and wavy. "I missed this."

Zay walked by with a red solo cup and Maya snatched it out of his hands without a thought. Zay kept moving on, unfazed by the sudden lack of alcohol in his hand. Once Maya swigged down the drink, she set the plastic cup in the plastic plant that was next to the door frame. "Don't worry about me too much, Huckleberry. I should be worried about you," she said, giving him a pointed look.

On that note, she escaped into the sea of horny and sweaty teenagers; all Lucas was left with was his dignity and her cowboy hat.

/

At one point, Maya had decided that she should've probably stopped drinking. Maybe it was the way Lucas's head was moving in five different directions, or maybe it was the way she couldn't get her mind off of him, no matter how much she drank. She didn't know whether to blame that on the alcohol or herself.

He still held her hat in his hand and she laughed, noticing how everyone was ambling around him like he was a fucking masterpiece. He was, though. She was thanking her lucky stars that she had that cowboy wrapped around her pinky finger. Her mind told herself to go talk to him. She missed him.

But, there was that girl! She was really pretty, too. She had blonde hair like herself and a really pretty smile. Maybe Lucas was in love with her. The thought made Maya frown; she wouldn't stop touching his biceps either. No shit, he had amazing biceps! If Maya was that girl, she would touch his biceps, as well. Who was she, anyway? Oh shit, Maya thought, that is _totally_ Layla Jackson from her art class. Did Lucas have a thing for blonde artists? What the fuck?!

Maya stomped up to him, grabbing his shirt and dragging him away from Layla. He was too good for her, he was too good for her. "Hey," he said softly, touching her hand was pulling against the fabric of his shirt near his chest. "What are you doing?"

"I don't like Layla," she said truthfully, though she had never talked to her outside of art class. She was all right in her art class, but outside of it, she _had_ to go. "Don't talk to her, please."

Maya's hand subconsciously found its away to his face. His face was soft against her touch and she found herself running her thumb over his lips. "Okay," he said to her, touching her hand that now connected with his face. "Hey, are you okay?"

She frowned, her thumb still caressing over the corner of his lips softly. "I think so?" she questioned, unsure if she actually was. "I don't know where Riley is. She kind of goes crazy at parties, but I'm pretty sure she's with Charlie in Ricky's mom's room, so that's okay. I encourage a little _get-on_."

"How much have you had to drink?" he asked her, his hand still on her hand that touched his face. He liked the sensation of her rubbing her thumb across his lips.

Maya counted the shots in her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "Hmmm," she said out loud, letting her thumb travel to his cheek and caressing it in thought. "I think—I think," she hiccuped. "I think—I had a few shots. I don't remember howmanyshotsIhad," she slurred, swaying slightly in her step. "I think I had some jungle juice, too. And I may have—have had some jello shots off of someone's abs. And maybe some peach schn—schnapps."

Lucas's eyebrows furrowed. "How are you not passed out? Or even _dead_?"

Maya felt her eyes close. "I don't know—w," she yawned, dragging out the 'w' in know for a bit longer than needed. "My mom has a high tolerance. My dad—my dad didn't. Am I going to die of alcohol poisoning?" she asked him seriously, letting her and rest on his cheek.

"No," Lucas promised, taking hold of her hand on his face and letting it drop. He took her hand from her side and dragged her to the couch. "You're going to have an awful hangover, though. You'll probably wish you died." She fell onto the couch after Lucas sat down, letting her head fall into his lap and her hair splay across his thighs. Lucas placed a hand on her head, noticing the heat.

"That isn't good," she noted, feeling her eyes droop as Lucas combed his fingers through her hair. "I don't want to die."

"I don't want you to die either," he said simply. "Also, you're not going to die." Lucas, quite honestly, was grateful that Maya had decided to pull him away from Layla. Layla was really nice, like _really_ nice, but Lucas had no interest in her. Especially when Maya was drinking jello shots off of people's abs.

"That's good," she hiccuped, letting her eyes look at Lucas. "Why are there four of you?"

"There isn't four of me."

"Then explain why I see four of you," Maya reasoned, feeling her stomach fill with warmth as he smiled down at her in a goofy matter. She loved his smile.

Lucas rolled his eyes at her and kept combing his hands through her wavy hair until she finally decided to sit up and look at him. "Lucas?"

"Hmmm?"

She decided to climb on his lap. She didn't know _why_ she decided to climb on his lap, but she did anyway. "Okay," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders to steady himself. His hands found a place on her hips so she wouldn't topple over. "I need to tell you a secret."

"Maya, please, no secrets," he begged. He knew that Maya would probably wake up in the morning and regret it.

"Yes!" she said, looking at him intently, moving her hands from his shoulders to cup his face. "It's about _you_. I need to tell you something."

"Fine," he grunted, involuntarily pulling her closer so he could look at her face better. The lighting was no good at Ricky's house. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Okay, shhh," she said, pulling his face closer so that they were breathing the same air. "You cannot tell _anyone_!"

He had to roll his eyes. Maya's antics were, at some points, too much for him to handle. But here she was, drunk Maya, mixed with a bit of her normal dose of craziness. "I won't!"

"Listen, okay, shhh. I love you," she muttered, her eyes fluttering down to his lips. Her expression didn't change, pointing that she was totally _not_ pranking him. How were you supposed to respond to a drunk person in the first place?

"I don't think you mean that."

Maya looked at him curiously, tilting her head. "No, I meant it. Why wouldn't I mean it?"

"You're drunk. You don't mean stuff when you're drunk," he pointed out. Maya shook her head.

"That doesn't mean I don't love you!" she muttered. "Oh, I know what you're thinking," she laughed, looking at the expression on his face. "I'm not _in_ love with you. Did I say I was in love with you? I didn't mean it like that. It's kind of like how I love Riley and my mom. I depend on them, I need them. I—I need you."

Lucas didn't know how to respond to Maya's revelation. At any other point in the room, if you were looking at them, it would seem like they were making out. It was good that no one had a camera on them or they were too drunk to get their camera out or Maya and Lucas would be embarrassed for days. Her hair fanned across his face and his cheeks were flushed with heat because of how close they were; he didn't know if it was because he was attracted, embarrassed, or just hot due to how warm she was. He noticed the above her left eyebrow. She told him it was a skating accident in the eighth grade.

"I love you," she repeated. She was smiling. He loved it when she smiled.

"Okay," he smiled at her, feeling the tufts of breath from her nose on his chin. "I love you too."

"Oh, that's a relief," she sighed, hopping off of his lap and lying her head down again. "My head hurts. I feel like a bull is beating up my head-ovaries. Ohmy _god_ ," she groaned, rolling over, "am I on my period in my head?"

"No," he laughed, picking her up from the couch and helping steady her on her feet so she wouldn't face-plant. "We should probably find Riley and Charlie and get you out of here. You look like you're about to pass out."

"That was the goal," she stated grimly, holding her head as he held her hand to weave through the crowd. "I'm sorry you didn't get to drink tonight because of me. That was selfish. You probably didn't have a lot of fun."

"Trust me," Lucas promised, grabbing Charlie by the collar and dragging him with him. Riley followed behind, tripping over her feet and face-planting a few times. "I had a plentiful time watching you drink jello shots off of people's abs." Maya smiled, looking down at their interlaced fingers. Somehow, her cowboy hat found its way sloppily on her head.

Lucas looked back for a moment while he was helping Riley and Charlie in the backseat of his car. Maya was attempting to get herself into the front seat but was stumbling in. She felt his gaze on her neck and turned her head around, looking into his eyes. There were three of him, so she didn't know which one to focus on. She was a complete mess, her hair was tangled and ratty, her mascara ruined, her hat tilting on her head. But when she smiled, he wasn't so sure he had seen anything as beautiful as her.

/

 **November 1st**

Maya lied down on her bed, ignoring the persistent thud. Something was ringing, maybe it was her phone. Or her ears. She couldn't tell because her head hurt so _damn_ much. She thanked God that she didn't have school today or she probably wouldn't have made it, and if she did, it would've been hell for everyone.

She turned over slightly to look at her bed stand to read the time. It read 1:54 PM in big, block letters, as it blinked slightly. Maya groaned and reached out for her phone, which she presumed would be on the other side of her bed, but her hand only hit soft flesh. "What the fuck?" she muttered, turning her body the other way to find the source of the flesh.

Of course.

It was a big ol' Huckleberry, blue jeans and all, fast asleep with his hair in a muss sleeping on her bed. He was still in his shoes and Maya seriously wondered how he got there. All she remembered from last night was drinking a jello shot from Ricky's abs and then it all became a blur. She was thankful that she had at least gotten home.

"Hey," she said, slightly shaking his bicep to wake him up. He grunted and rolled over, almost on top of her. "Hey, you dumb Huckleberry, wake up," she said, shaking his body a bit harder. His eyes slowly opened at adjusted to the light, rubbing the palms of his hands against his eyes.

"Where am I...?" Lucas grumbled, rolling over again so he was basically on top of Maya.

Maya wheezed under his body weight and hit his chest. "Under here, you dumbass," she said, pushing him off of her.

"Oh yeah," Lucas said smacking his lips, letting his eyelids droop. "You were literally crazy last night."

"So you decided to _sleep_ over?"

Lucas opened his eyes and turned his body to face her. "Do you not _remember_ you begging me to stay with you because you thought the boogeyman was under your bed?"

Maya cringed at the thought. She probably spilled so many secrets that she definitely intended not to spill the night prior. Why was she the worst drunk in the world? "I'm glad I don't. Seriously, I only remember up to drinking jelly shots off of Ricky's abs. Everything after that kind of seems to fade."

"Oh," Lucas said, frowning. "So you don't remember when you told me..." he trailed off, studying her face. "Never mind."

"Don't tell me," Maya groaned, rubbing her forehead. "I don't want to know."

"Trust me, I wish it was as easy for me as it was with you. I seriously want to forget pulling back your hair when you were barfing your guts out. That was not a pretty sight."

"God, I'm a mess," she grunted, rolling over so her head was stuffed in her pillow. "I feel like my head is on its period."

"You said that to me last night. It's like a Maya-ism, or something." Lucas suddenly released himself from her bed and shoved off his shoes, letting his feet be free. Maya moved her head slightly to look up at him towering over her. His hair was a mess, but his eyes shown a beautiful green and she had to physically stop herself from saying anything. She only wished she didn't say something embarrassing to him the night prior.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hands from her sides and pulling her up into a seated position. Maya noticed how she was in pajamas. That dumb Huckleberry probably saw her naked, for fucksakes.. He grabbed her hands again and pulled her towards him, so her cheek was on his chest. "Go take a shower. You stink."

"That's nice," she grumbled, glaring up at him with daggers. She took his suggestion anyway because she _did_ reek like alcohol. After she had finished taking a hot, and long, shower, she dressed in some comfy sweats and a long T-shirt. She decided not to brush her hair, the task seemed too daunting.

Lucas was in her kitchen, flipping an egg, and she wasn't so sure she had seen anything so Huckleberry like. The name she had appointed him seemed so fitting, and it truly was. A small cup steamed and sat on her counter under a napkin, which she presumed was because she and her mom had no coasters. She couldn't get enough of his Texan charm.

"I see you're already making me brunch," she stated, swiping the tea off the table and lavishing in the honey that smoothly went down her throat. Lucas was a saint, at this point.

"You looked dead, it was the least I could do," he promised, plopping the runny egg on a plate already filled with a sausage and some potatoes. He handed her the plate and a fork, joining next to her with a matching plate. Maya smiled. Maybe this is what married life would be like with him.

She had to rid that thought immediately.

/

 **November 5th**

 **from: huckleberry  
sent: 6:32 PM  
seen: 6:32 PM  
**I'm picking you up! I don't care what you say. Even if you had plans. It is what it is.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 6:32 PM  
** **seen: 6:35 PM  
** i have plans

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 6:35 PM  
** **seen: 6:35 PM  
** Read the fine print! I'm picking you up either way.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 6:36 PM  
** **seen: 6:37 PM  
** i was joking! do you already have your game and movie picked out? and tell me you have the popcorn or ill be SUPER disappointed

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 6:38 PM  
** **seen: 6:38 PM  
** Of course? Who do you think I am? I'm here, by the way.

Maya rolled her eyes as she heard his familiar knock that was probably the beat from some country tune. She yelled out that she would be there in a minute. She tucked Monopoly and some horror movie she found stashed under her bed underneath her arm. She was decked out in soft, comfy pajamas and her hair was tied up messily.

She opened the door to reveal a beaming Huckleberry, matching her with his sweatpants. His shirt was something baseball related, but Maya didn't care. She was just happy to see him. His hair reminded her of Tuesday, messy and untamed. She kind of liked that hairstyle on him, suddenly. It looked kind of like sex hair.

Once they were situated his car, Lucas turned on his lights and pulled out of her apartment complex parking lot and drove a few miles to his apartment. The station was already playing Christmas music. Maya's nose crinkled at the thought; it was only acceptable to play Christmas music during December.

"Hey," he said, smacking her hand away as she tried to change the station. "My car, my music. Plus, it's freakin' Christmas music! The music of the holy!"

"You're so weird," she grumbled, taking her hand away from the knob as she listened to Michael Bublé. The air was already getting frigid in New York.

Once they had finally made their way to his apartment room number, room 9184, Lucas swiped the car, revealing an empty home. "My mama's working late. She won't be home until midnight or something," he said, switching on the light. Maya could smell the pre-made popcorn in the kitchen all the way from his living room; her mouth watered.

"First things first," she said, placing her copy of Monopoly on his coffee table and plopping down on his couch. "I'm _literally_ the master of Monopoly, so this game should go by quick."

Lucas grabbed Maya's movie from her hand and placed it by the DVR, making his way back to her. "Now, that's just lame. I was going to do Monopoly."

"That's your own fault. Come up with something else."

"It's interesting, though," he said, sitting down next to her so their thighs were touching, "how you think you're the master of Monopoly when you know _me_."

"Monopoly is mainly luck, and I'm _real_ lucky, I'll have you know."

Their faces were close, as they were almost breathing the same air. "That's funny. I can't wait to beat your ass, Hart."

Maya picked the thimble while Lucas picked the shoe. At one point, Lucas put on Oh Wonder, conveniently the artist they had listened to a few weeks prior.

"Listen," Maya muttered mid-game, filing through her cards in her hand. She had a bowl of popcorn next to her on the ground, as Lucas was parallel from her on the other side of the coffee table. "Give me your Boardwalk and I won't beat your ass."

"Tempting," Lucas said, setting his cards down and throwing a piece of popcorn in the air to catch in his mouth; he missed. "Give me Park Place, though."

"I'll pass," she said, waving the card in a taunt in front of his face. The game could have last for hours, considering they each had a fair share of cards and not one had a full set. They really needed to start negotiating. "I swear to God, this game is going to last forever if you don't let me beat you."

"How about _you_ let me beat you?" he suggested, throwing another piece of popcorn in his mouth. He missed again. "I'm not giving up my Boardwalk, but thanks."

"Fine," Maya grumbled, handing Lucas her Park Place and swiping Baltic Avenue and Marvin Gardens, paired with a pretty 1000. "You're so annoying," she grumbled.

After adding several houses and hotels to their properties, the game was pretty much tied. Despite the fact Lucas traded his soul and a few cents for Park Place, Maya had conveniently not landed on any blue spots. The time was ticking toward midnight and they had another game, including two movies, to get through.

"You need to forfeit," she stated, counting the money in her hand. "This game is going to go on forever."

"I'll forfeit if you do too."

Maya set down the money on the table and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she grumbled. "I forfeit, but so do you."

Lucas smiled at her and attempted to throw another piece of popcorn in his mouth. He missed.

"You're so predictable," she said, grabbing a piece of popcorn from her bowl and letting it fall square in her mouth. "You're a hitter on your team yet you have terrible aim. That's so sad."

"Whatever," Lucas chuckled, grabbing a game from his cabinet. "Ooh!" he said, setting the box down on the table after Maya had cleaned up the Monopoly mess. "I'm the master at Clue, too."

"You said you were the master at Monopoly and I wiped the floor with your ass."

"Whatever puts you to sleep at, Blondie," he said, grabbing the pieces out and flipping over the board.

Nearing the end of the game, Maya had her head on the floor and her feet propped up on the table. She looked at her card and then back at Lucas, giving him a sultry smile. He was still struggling to piece who did it. Maya moved her body slightly to snatch the envelope from Lucas's hand and read out loud whom she thought. "Okay, it was _totally_ ," she muttered, stopping for a moment to peer at her paper, "Plum, with the candlestick, in the courtyard. Bingo!"

She opened the envelope to reveal that she was right and stood up showing the cards to Lucas. "Are you _still_ the master of Clue, huh?" she asked, gloating in her victory.

"Okay, okay," Lucas said, grabbing the cards from her hand. "I'll admit, you cheated."

"I did not _cheat_!" she gasped in defense. "You just suck at Clue."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, a small smile under his breath. He continued to clean up the game while Maya bounced around the room victoriously, her hair flying behind her. Once he put the games away, Maya was still in a hyper mood, probably due to the coffee she had grabbed from his kitchen. "Woah, crazy lady," he said, grabbing her hand to pull her back to him. "You're going to hurt your foot and then you'll have to stay in that cast longer."

Maya stared at their connected hands, but instead of feeling heated and embarrassed by him by his gaze and touch, as she usually did, she felt something else. She recognized it as mirth. "It's a boot," she muttered, feeling her heart beat slow as their hands stayed together longer, "but thanks."

Lucas finally let go of her hand. Maya vividly felt the heat escape from her hand and she had to stop herself from grunting sadly. Lucas ambled over to the TV and looked at Maya's suggestion. "I swear to God," he mumbled. "You had to bring a horror movie?"

"Is little Huckleberry scared?" she asked with a fake pout, caught up in getting a billion blankets out of his hall closet. They all almost tumbled on top of her but she dragged them out of the dusty room, taking them to the couch.

"No!" Lucas said defensively, popping in the DVD into the DVR. He grabbed the remote and filed through the previews, grabbing the popcorn bowl that sat on the floor and came to sit next to Maya who was already wrapped like a burrito in several blankets. "I should be worried about you. You look like you're going to piss your pants."

"Yeah, right," she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I've seen this movie like ten times. What is it? Children of The Corn, right? It's not even scary."

"Um, it is if it's R-rated!"

"You're so lame," she said, snuggling deeper into her cocoon of blankets. "I promise it isn't. It's like PG13. And it's only fitting since it's Halloween."

"Apparently," he said in a spooky voice, "it was based off a true story."

"Ooooh," Maya mocked, holding his hand to comfort him in a teasing matter. "What if that happened to _us_?" she gasped. "What if we lived in a town with no adults and every adult was sacrificed to Satan?"

"Rest assured," he said, squeezing her hand and turning his head to look at her. "If anyone tried to sacrifice you, I'd gut them."

"That's romantic," she laughed softly, not letting go of his hand. She came to enjoy his body heat.

"And I'm eighteen, anyway. So I'd be dead."

Maya smiled at him. "It's over twenty-one, so you'd still have to protect me, sorry you're disappointed."

"I don't think you'd need protecting, anyway," he promised, looking away from her and pressing play on the movie. The eerie music filled the room and Lucas tightened his grip on Maya's hand. Typical Huckleberry.

Somehow, halfway through the movie, they were safely snuggled together in the blankets. Her head lied on his shoulder, her eyes drooping tiredly. Their hands were still intertwined tightly, as Lucas wouldn't let go due to him jumping every few seconds. Maya paid no mind to the constant sacrifices as her head lolled on his shoulder.

Lucas managed to survive through the whole movie, despite the fact that Maya fell asleep on top of him. He moved her body off of him as he heard his mother knock on their door. He opened it to reveal his small mother, traveling with a grocery bag and a wide smile.

"Hey there Lukey," she said loudly, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Whoa," he said in a whisper, pointing to Maya. "She's out like a light, even though we have one more movie."

Luna shrugged in apology and ambled into the apartment, setting down a few groceries on the floor. "What'd you guys watch, anyway?"

"Some weird horror movie."

"Why'd you do that?" she said, furrowing her eyebrows at him. "We know how you piss your boxers when you watch anything remotely scary."

"Hey!" he said, crossing his arms defensively. "I survived it. I've changed."

Maya decided to chime in. "I'd hardly say that you survived."

"Hey," he said, turning back to her and smiling. "How long have you been up?"

"I don't know," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "It's all kind of hazy." Maya looked over at her mother and felt a pit of guilt in her stomach for not eating her meal that she had graciously cooked for her and Lucas a few weeks prior. And with the mention of Misty, and everything. She was sure that Luna was lovely and sweet, just like Lucas was, but she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to her. "Hey there, Miss Friar," she said, anyway.

"Miss Hart," she said back cheerfully, picking up the grocery's and making her way to the kitchen. "You two have fun!" she called back as she set the food on the table. "I have some treats in here if you'd like. I think I'm going to conk out for the night, long night at work."

She hopped up the stairs and resided to her bedroom, leaving Lucas and Maya alone once again. "Sorry I checked out," she said, rubbing her messy hair with her hand. "I've seen that movie so many damn times it got kind of boring."

Lucas laughed and walked over to the DVR. He ejected her horror movie and carefully placed it back in its case, setting it down next to his TV. He popped in his CD and smiled, watching the familiar movie pop up on the TV. "Don't judge," he finally said as he walked back over to Maya.

He placed the blankets over them and smiled at her shocked reaction. "Oh my god," she said, looking at the block words on the TV. "Is this your favorite movie?"

"Hell yeah," he smiled.

"I can't believe you like The DUFF. You are the most Huckleberry Huckleberry I have _ever_ met," she muttered, grabbing the popcorn on the table and setting it in between the two for them to share.

"What can I say," he shrugged. "I love romance."

Maya had switched positions at least ten times during the first half of the movie, going from on the ground, to upside down on the couch. She had taken in on herself to throw as many popcorn pieces in her mouth in a row. So far, her record was forty-two. Lucas was staring at the screen, completely entrapped in the movie. He oohed and awwed and gushed as the ending of the movie approached.

"You're so lame," she muttered, throwing another piece of popcorn in the air.

"Let a guy live," he said, waving his hand in her face to shut her up. Maya flipped over and decided to watch the last part of the movie with him.

The movie was so damn cliche but Maya couldn't help smile as Lucas's face lit up during the prom scene. Something about watching him be happy had made her stomach fill with mirth. She didn't know what it was, but just being with him made her happy. She didn't know if she loved it or hated it.

Once the movie ended, Maya peeked at the clock. It was nearly 2AM, and the light outside was nonexistent. How in the hell would she get home, considering it wasn't safe for Lucas to drive during this late of night.

"Maybe I should walk home," she muttered to herself, checking her phone.

"Are you _crazy_?" Lucas asked her while he picked up the blankets from the floor. "You should sleep over."

Maya's cheeks heated up at the suggestion. It wasn't like them having a sleepover was completely new, considering he had slept over a few days prior because she was drunk. But she _was_ drunk, and this time she wasn't. Maybe his mom had some wine locked up in the fridge. "I don't know..." she muttered.

"It's like, I don't know, 2AM in the morning. I'm not letting you walk home. I'll chain you up if I have to."

Maya smiled at him and shook her head, shaking off her socks. "I guess I'll stay over. But no funny business."

"Do you even think I'd attempt to do anything to you?" he asked her seriously. "You can take my bed."

"I'm not going to let you sleep on the floor in your own house."

"I'm not going to let _you_ sleep on the floor in my house."

/

They had decided that they would both sleep in his bed but within a safe distance of one another. Maya was already conked out once her head hit the sheets, as well as Lucas. They were both exhausted from playing games and watching movies all night, so it didn't even matter if they slept in the same bed.

Somehow, someway through the night, their bodies had become entangled with one another as if they were pulled. His arm was wrapped around her hip and their bodies were pushed together, her hair fanned out over his face messily.

Luna thought it was the perfect time to take a picture.


	7. week 6

**WARNING: PLZ READ!**

 ****this chapter has very heavy themes in them. it's 20 questions so dark questions will be asked and answered. stuff about mayas dad, josh, and lucas's dad and misty will be answered. heavy doses of abuse stories and of rape. this is a hefty chapter****

* * *

 **objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
 **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**  
 **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**  
 **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**  
 **7\. get creative! paint fight**  
8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 ** _November 6th - November 12th_**

 **November 9th**

Maya had found herself counting down the days until Saturday. Perhaps, it was a little more dreadfully than usual due to the fact the next activity was one she was not looking forward to, but she didn't mind much since she tended to enjoy the time spent with Lucas. It didn't matter if they were going to engage in the risky endeavor of talking about _super-duper_ personal stuff. And besides, she thought she could trust him.

It was already bad enough as it was that Luna thought it was a good idea to post a picture of her and Lucas on her Instagram page, which Zay had happened to follow. And everyone knew that Zay was the biggest gossip in the whole school, besides Jessica. And then the picture got to Jessica as if it already hadn't gone through enough people, and when something went through Jessica, it only took about an hour for everyone else to find out. Which is exactly what happened.

It was very evident _everyone_ thought they were sleeping together; which, quite frankly, they _were_. But not in the way everyone thought they were, more in the why-can't-a-girl-and-a-boy-just-be-friends-and-have-fun-little-sleepovers type of way. But, seriously, the gossip of Lucas and Maya's rendezvous, thanks to Luna, had spread across the school faster than the lice two years prior. Yuck.

Perhaps Maya missed Lucas and that was why she was counting down the days until Saturday. Granted, the fact that she _missed_ him was completely her fault, considering she tended to avoid him in the hallways beside a slight wave in his direction. Clearly, Lucas was bugged with her misty activity. He was led to believe it was because of the prospect of twenty questions, something he knew she'd been dreading since day one. He was a good person, he wouldn't ask her anything that made her uncomfortable.

Jessica suggested to everyone that they were avoiding each other, more so Maya because they were saving up all of their sexual tension for Saturday which is when they " _got-it-on_ " or something along those lines that spilled between her chapped lips. Maya decided to spend her time in the hall with Riley so Riley could scare them off with her angry face, which wasn't all that scary but scary enough on a doe-eyed, derpy teenager.

"So," Riley said, shuffling through her books in her locker. Her voice was slightly muffled, leading the metal doors to reverberate around her slightly as the sound attempted to escape its cage. "Why are you avoiding Lucas like he's got the black plague?"

"Nice try trying to incorporate our History lesson from earlier into asking me a question I don't want to answer. Hitting two stones with one bird."

"That's not how it goes," she muttered, taking out her books from her locker and stuffing them in her backpack. "Ap Calc is literally the worst class ever. Do they _intend_ to kill my brain with useless math facts?"

"Woah there, jitterbug. You're starting to sound like me."

Riley smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. "Okay, but honestly, stop trying to avoid my question. And Lucas, for that matter. See, I really did hit two birds there with one stone."

"You even stole what I was saying," she muttered, rubbing her backpack strap nervously. She knew she couldn't avoid Riley's question forever, no matter how much she tried. "People think we're... _sleeping_ together."

"Well, that was very _obvious_ in the photo that Jessica sent to everyone's smartphones."

Maya groaned and rubbed the nape of her neck. Jessica was too much of a handful than what she could deal with. "Not that type of sleeping, Riley. God, I thought you and Charlie went further than second base."

"Something like that," she muttered, running her fingers through her hair. "And besides, Charlie and I are not the subject for right now. I know you two aren't sleeping together, especially not after Josh, with you and all," she said. Riley couldn't have phrased it any worse. The girl did not have a way with words. "I did not say that as gracefully as I had hoped. Anyway, Lucas is too much of a gentleman to even ask. He'd probably wait until you two freaks were married or something."

"We're not even dating!" Maya protested, walking next to Riley as they ambled their way to class. "Where in the hell did you get the idea we would get _married_?"

"I don't know? Instinct, perhaps? Maybe a gut feeling. I don't know, call it what you will. But don't tell me you haven't thought of the idea. I mean, he did kind of, sort of, make you breakfast and you guys have had a total of two completely non-sexual sleepovers that I have been informed about. One was by Jessica Wheeler, and not you, which I still don't forgive you for, but I can see past that flaw for a few moments."

Before Maya could respond, she welcomed a thankful distraction. Only for a moment or two until she recognized who it was, and then a deep pit grew in her stomach. She didn't know if it were the butterflies, which she was getting used to at this point, the dread of seeing him, or the joy of seeing him. She thought it was a combination of all three.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. Don't bite each other's faces off while I'm gone," Riley said suddenly, rubbing her scalp. She bounded down the hall, her skirt picking up slightly at the end due to the air of her skips. And there she was, all alone with Lucas in the hallway. Thankfully, no one was around because their classes were about to start. Not so thankfully, she'd probably get a tardy slip and end up in detention.

"Hey there, crazy lady," he said, smiling at her. His eyes were green, like seafoam, and they reminded her of the ocean. She could see herself drowning in them.

"Hey there, Lucas," she said back uneasily, trying to ease her way out of their conversation. Lucas's eyebrows knit at her lack of the word Huckleberry.

"Okay, I'm going to just say it. Why have you been avoiding me ever since Saturday?"

"Well, truthfully, it was Monday since I didn't see you on Sunday after you dropped me off at my house, but that's whatever."

They were located near the janitors closet in the corner of the hallway, luckily not close enough to any classrooms so people could hear their conversation. Lucas's eyebrows knit at her with deep concern. She liked the way his eyebrows knit, but she felt as if they were too harsh like he's been through too much. With lack-of-mentioning Misty and his father, she wanted to ease his eyebrows with her thumb and take away all of his pain. She hated it.

"You are not that good at avoiding me as you thought."

"Well, I totally had managed to do it until Wednesday, so I think I won, honestly."

Lucas smiled down at her, even though she was admitting to avoiding him. She found him so completely odd, and she loved it. She wanted to know more about him. Which is why avoiding him made her life a whole lot harder. "Is it because of those rumors that we're sleeping together? I don't know about you, but ever since we've started hanging out, people have assumed we were sleeping together. And—" he stopped for a moment, looking down at her. She was _so_ much shorter than him, it was ridiculous. "We were quite literally sleeping... together. Just not in the context they seem to think."

Lucas was right. She was getting fed up over nothing. Who cared if they assumed they were dating? It wasn't that big of a deal, and eventually, Jessica Wheeler would find something new to sink her fangs in and this whole Lucas-and-Maya dilemma would pass. And she wouldn't let sniveling little journalists ruin her perfectly good and spent time with Lucas. She didn't get enough of it, anyway, so why was she wasting it in the first place? "I suppose you're right."

"See?" Lucas said, a bright smile on his face. He reached for her hand to hold it, to reassure her. She liked holding his hand, she found out. He smelled like cinnamon and his hand was warm. She liked things that were warm. "It's nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter what they think, we can be in our own little bubble."

"A little bubble," Maya breathed, her stomach warming due to the skin contact. "That sounds like a good idea. With a few exceptions. It has to be the Lucas-Maya-Riley bubble because Riley is quite literally attached to my hip, except when she isn't."

"And Zay," Lucas added in mirthfully. "And Farkle, and his super-genius girlfriend Smackle that is also quite literally attached to his hip, because they were trying to rebuild some volcano thing and got super glue and now they're at the hospital. But Farkle says he won't die."

Maya smiled at his goofiness. From another angle, you'd see Lucas tower over her while she was pressed against the corner. It would almost look intimidating if you didn't know Lucas, but if you did, you'd know that Maya was one of the only people that made his knees go weak, but he wouldn't tell you that. They were breathing the same air, it was almost like she hadn't been avoiding him for three days.

Maya could faintly hear a bell in the distance, but she didn't really collect it. It was her and Lucas in their little bubble they had just created. She liked it there. Well, the her-Lucas-Riley-Zay-Farkle-and-his-super-genius-girlfriend-attached-to-his-hip-bubble. "And another thing," she said, ignoring her head that was telling her to get to class. "We're on for Saturday?"

"Always."

"That's good," she nodded her head. "If you couldn't tell, I'm not the most enthusiastic about spilling my guts out."

Lucas looked down at her sadly. He noticed some of the smaller things. Like that scar above her left eyebrow. And that freckle just below her lip and the way her hair was curly and untamed. And he also noticed the slight pink under her eyes, probably due to her excessive lack of sleep during the weekdays and her over excessive of sleep on the weekends. "We can skip it," he suggested.

"Don't be dumb. You aren't worming your way out of this. And Riley would literally spill my guts if she found out."

"What do you suggest then?"

She shrugged, finding a sudden interest in her fingernails. "I don't know what I wanted to say. I just don't want Saturday to be awkward for us. It'll take me some time to open up to you, so just be patient."

Lucas's mind wandered back to a week prior when she had accidentally told him that she loved him. Not quite in the, I'm-in-love-with-you way, but the I-depend-on-you way. He was glad he had made it that far in such a short amount of time. "I'll always be patient with you."

Her cheeks flushed red and she looked up at him with a wide smile. "Alright, alright, you dork," she snorted, pushing his chest away from hers with her palms. She was way too late for class. "I'm late for class. I'll see you after."

/

 **November 10th**

Maya was finally getting her dreaded boot off and then she could finally wiggle her ankle free. Riley was, for a lack of better words, trying to get further than second base (again) with Charlie, this time with no alcohol. And her mom was at some Christ retreat that she had used all of her tips on, so she had no ride other than Lucas. Not that she was complaining, it'd be easier to get under his skin since he was so damn gullible.

"I swear to god," he said, opening her door for her after he had parked, "if you blame me for getting your ankle sprained one more time, I'm ditching this twelve-week thing and I'm going to make out with Zay."

"Truly, I do not know where that came from," she said, hopping out of the car, reaching out for Lucas's hand to steady her. It was always there. "But I sure would like to see pictures. A video would do nicely."

To be completely honest, Maya would miss her extra limb. She had grown accustomed to it, and she remembered Riley and Lucas brainstorming names for it. She wasn't sure, but they had decided on Sunny. She thought Blackjack certainly fit it better since the boot was an ash black and that was some sort of cowboy name she found on an online generator, which fit because Lucas gave her the damned thing.

"Also, this is payback for you not coming to visit me while I was in writhing pain in the hospital."

"It was one _day_ , not even overnight. And you told me not to come visit you or you'd kick my ass."

"If you knew any better, you'd know I was saying I wanted you to come. You're such a Huckleberry."

Lucas smiled down at her, who was walking to his right so her left foot, which had the boot, was next to him. It had taken them a couple of minutes, but Maya and Lucas finally had made their way to their room where their Doctor, Doctor Widbee, was waiting. He had a monocle and no hair, which Maya found herself laughing at, but Lucas had to shove her slightly to shut up. "Right, okay Miss Hart. Did I not see you last week?"

"That's right."

"And you already have a new boy toy?"

Lucas's cheeks flushed with color.

"Alright, to clarify, Riley is a girl, and she is my best friend. And second of all, Lucas is not a boy toy. Although, I'm not against it," she said jokingly. His cheeks were flooded with color. This is what it was like to spend a day with her.

/

Maya had insisted that Lucas gives her a piggyback ride back to his car since she was a recovering patient and all. Lucas saw no point since she had gotten her boot off and was clear to go, but he did so anyway.

/

 **November 12th**

Riley dropped off Maya at Lucas's apartment building. Maya had his address memorized, which made _Riley_ blush, but she had to bite her tongue in an attempt to not say anything. She gave Maya a stern look, told her to use condoms if needed, which Maya slapped her upside the head for.

"Hey there," she said after Lucas opened the door to apartment number 9184. She could hear the soft melody of Christmas music from his kitchen. She could also smell that his mother made chocolate chip cookies. Her hair was tied into a messy ponytail and she was in her sweats and a long T-shirt that was either Josh's or her fathers. But it smelled like Josh, just a bit faded since it had been through the wash. At odd times she missed him, no matter how manipulative he had been. She had spent a good deal of her life pining over him, as well as dating him.

"My mom made chocolate chip cookies before she left. She's out at a movie with her friends."

Maya nodded her head and stepped into his apartment. Just the way it had been a week prior, a bit messy, but entirely more clean than hers had ever been. It looked like home. The blankets they had used while they were watching movies had been stuffed messily back into the closet, with a few pieces of it sticking out. She shook off her shoes and lied down on his couch, her head on the armrest. Lucas went into the kitchen to retrieve the cookies and came back with a plate of steaming ones. Her mouth watered, she normally never got these type of delicacies between her mother's work, school, and her mother's Christ retreats.

Lucas sat them down on the coffee table and joined her on the couch. Maya swiped a cookie from the plate and chomped on it happily, giving Lucas a goofy smile. Maya was lying down while Lucas was sitting upright. Her legs were on his lap and his hand was on her knee.

"Twenty questions," she said, sort of grimacing with the idea. She had too much to share for Lucas. "Let's get this over with. Can we at least try to start off easy?"

"Easy it is," he said, rubbing her knee softly. She liked the sensation of him rubbing her knee. He snatched a cookie from the plate and chomped on it, deep in thought. He finally spoke through a muffle of chocolate. "What's your favorite color?"

"That was weak," she laughed, looking sideways to look at him. He smiled at her, big and bright.

"Hey!" he said defensively. "You said to go easy and I went easy."

Maya shifted her body weight slightly as she thought. "Yellow," she finally said.

"Why?"

"Is that your second question?"

"Is that your first question?"

"Is that _your_ third question?"

"Okay, stop," he said, grabbing her hand that lied on her torso and pulling her up toward him. They were face to face now, even though Maya had tried with all of her willpower not to. She hated looking at his green eyes; they made her tell him too much. "Seriously, why? It's like an add-on question. A two in one deal."

"Hitting two stones with one bird," she confirmed.

Lucas looked at her curiously, his eyebrows in a questioning form. He laughed. "Okay, sure, whatever you say Blondie."

She noticed the way their hands were still connected near her thigh, how he was absentmindedly rubbing his thumb in circles across the area between her index finger and her thumb. "I... don't... know," she said finally, paying close attention to where their bodies connected. "It's like, always been my favorite color. It's, like, the first time we did an activity, how the sky turned red. At 5:30, the sky turns yellow, and when you're with Riley, it makes her turn gold. Not even a picture or a painting could capture it." She breathed through her nose to capture her breath. "It's... it's breathtaking. Yes, that's what it is. Not the gross mustard kind, the kind that shines through your window on a sunny day."

Lucas smiled. "And what about you?" she asked. "What's your favorite color?"

"Is that your first question?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you big Huckleberry."

It was no contest. "Blue," he said, and he understood why, looking deep into her blue eyes. It was hard to describe the color because it wasn't only just _blue_. Her eyes kind of shined, and had a glitter to it, they had weaves of gold pressed into them, they sparkled if you looked at them for a tad too long. They so _radically_ contrasted her bright, blonde and curly hair that it almost made Lucas surprised at such the stark difference. Her eyes were vibrant with color, deep and entrapping. It was hard to wonder why it hadn't been his favorite color before he met Maya.

"Why?"

"Is that your second question?"

"I am _not_ having this argument with you again."

He had to think about her add-on question for a moment. "I don't... know," which was partly true, and partly not. He hated lying to her, which wasn't what he was directly doing. But if she knew that his favorite color was the color of her eyes, then she wouldn't ever talk to him again. Part of the rules was not to fall in love, which he _wasn't_ doing... by the way. "It's just like, I don't know, one day, a few months ago, it changed." He neglected to mention it started to change when he met her. "It was always green before, I loved green. The smell of the grass, the green stains I got on my baseball jersey from sliding too often. The green of the Texas trees. I loved the color green. And, it just kind of—changed. Like that."

"Which color?"

"Didn't I already say blue?"

"No, not like that, dumbass," she said, "I mean, like," she sat in contemplation for a moment. "Like which shade of blue? There are so many different hues, like pastels, and tones and how dark and light it is. You should pay more attention in Interior Design."

It wasn't that hard to tell her, just harder to put in words. There wasn't a color for the color of her eyes, they were too beautiful to be a color; if that was even a damned thing. So he told her, as best as he could because he could look right in front of him and the vivid blue was right _there_.

"That was harder to answer than I had expected," Maya whispered, feeling winded from all of the conversation with only one question down and nineteen more to go. But with Lucas's hand still on hers, it gave her a sort of twisted reassurance.

"Favorite book?"

"I don't _read_."

Lucas gave her a stern look. He saw the stashed collection of Percy Jackson books in her locker. She wasn't as slick as she thought. "Okay, tell that to your Harry Potter books under your bed and your Percy Jackson books in your locker."

"You checked under my bed!?" she yelped, hitting the back of her hand on his chest with her free hand. "You're such a creep."

Lucas laughed and smiled at her. "Come on," he pressed. "I also saw the glasses in your nightstand but I'll ask that question later."

"Do you _like_ to go looting in my room?"

"It's a pastime I do enjoy," he teased. "But seriously, crazy lady, answer my question."

"Easy," she said, kicking her head back on the armrest but neglecting to let go of his hand. "The Maze Runner series, I mean _duh_. You'd think it would be Percy Jackson or Harry Potter but your most prized possessions must be ones your friends cannot find. Huckleberry Finn was a boring book. I wonder why."

Maya asked Lucas what his favorite pastime was, which was, besides hanging out with her (he didn't say that, though), _duh_ —baseball.

They had filed through a series of meaningless questions. Lucas asked Maya what her favorite food was which, surprisingly, was tomatoes. Maya asked Lucas what was the biggest number he had ever counted to. He said it was something in the millions, but she hardly believed him. Lucas's favorite animal was a dog, easy, while Maya's was fish. That led into a heated discussion because Maya liked cats betters than dogs which led to a _more_ heated discussion. Eventually, they got their way around the argument, albeit, not solved.

"Okay," he said, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. They were seated in front of each other, now. Her legs were crossed on the couch as well as his, and it looked like they were having a heated discussion about politics rather than asking each other trivial, meaningless questions. "What happened to your dad?"

That question threw Maya off guard; she had no idea how to respond to Lucas. She almost wanted to slap him upside the head but she had to stop herself, this was twenty questions and they were supposed to go _deep_ or something. "Hum," she whispered, her body slightly swaying as she thought. "That is certainly a good question."

Lucas wouldn't push her. He knew what it was like to be asked about your father, it was intense and hard to relive. But he wanted Maya to trust him, he wanted her to know that she could tell him anything. "Alright," she finally said after a few minutes of silence. "Alright," she said again, looking down at their interlaced fingers. "I'm just going to go right out and say it and get it over with."

"You—you don't have to if you don't want to."

"No—no," she said, refusing to look in his eyes. His eyes always made her weaker. "You deserve to know. Only my mom and Riley know, and I guess it'd be healthy to tell someone else. And—and Josh knows." She sighed for a while longer, trying to avoid saying anything. At a point, she figured she couldn't be silent much longer and swallowed the ball of spit in her throat. "He—he left when I was young. I was like four, or five, I don't like to remember the dates. I just know I was really young, young enough to get some stuff hazy but old enough to remember the bad stuff."

She stayed silent for a moment longer. She bit her lip as if she were holding back tears. It was hard to tell him personal stuff, she hated looking vulnerable. "He and my mom were in love at one point, I guess. They never even got married. They were just crazy in love or something. She got pregnant and then my dad started to go a little—I don't know—a little rougher. It wasn't the obvious stuff, you know? My mom told me he only held her a little too hard sometimes. He'd yank her hair when she wasn't listening. And this was all when she was pregnant, but it wasn't that bad. Just some pushing around."

Her breath hitched in her throat and Lucas found himself grabbing her other hand with his other hand. He needed her to know that she wasn't alone, and as long as he was in her life, he would always be with her. She seemed to calm down for a moment once she realized that Lucas had grabbed her other hand. "It all got weird after I was born. I don't remember the first few years, but my mom told me he became an alcoholic. He never got any jobs because he was always drunk. My mom worked day and night just to support me and my deadbeat father. I started to get stuff at like three, like, remember it. I don't remember a time when he wasn't drunk. He was always in his room, watching ESPN or some sports shit rather than—rather than take care of his daughter," she choked on her words. "Sorry, I just—" she stopped.

Lucas said nothing. He knew how these things worked because he had been through it so many times telling the authorities about his father. You wanted people to leave you alone until the end, and when you finished, that's when you could hold them. She never looked into his eyes, only at his hands. He understood that too. He hated the pity, he _always_ hated the pity. "When I was old enough to go to the bathroom, I was old enough for him to rough me up too, I guess. He threw me around a little, but I—I never really got hurt. My mom was his punching bag, though. If she forgot his rum at the store, she'd get a punch. God forbid she didn't get enough tips to buy him a lotto ticket. That wasn't a good day.

"It was like watching a horror movie when I was younger. You see all these horrid things on the news, but you never _ever_ think you'll experience them. And then it happens. It just... it comes out of nowhere. Like, one day he was throwing my mom around and roughing me up and yanking me harder than a toddler should be yanked and the next, he's just gone. My mom's car that she paid out of the depths of her pocket for, his wallet, his passport, and half of our money. Just out of there. And you could still smell him, his alcohol-ridden presence. His meanness. He was always there. His gloom. So my Gammy Hart moved in until we had enough money to move out. We didn't want to be there anymore. I was eight when I moved out of there and I moved to Greenwich Village. We moved to this small, beat-up apartment building that smells. We've been there ever since, but it's nice. Not being able to smell him. He always smelled."

Lucas noticed the few streams of tears that trailed down her face. He lifted up one of his hands from hers and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't apologize, it wasn't his fault, and she didn't want his pity. She just needed to tell someone. Instead of saying anything, Lucas found it easier to hold her, for both of them. He reached over and grabbed Maya by the shoulders and embraced her tightly. The worst part was that he knew exactly how she felt. Exactly. He could hear her silent sobs in his shirt, and he held her even tighter. He never wanted to let her go, he never wanted her to get hurt again.

/

"What about you?" she asked him, grabbing the cookie from his hand as he tried to chomp on it. They had decided to take a break before they both had an emotional breakdown from Maya's story about her father.

He knew what she was talking about and grabbed the cookie back before she could take another bite and stuffed it in his mouth. She grunted unhappily. "What are you talking about?" he asked, anyway.

She sat up seriously, her blonde hair falling out of her ponytail. "I'm not going to egg. But you're annoying."

Lucas rolled his eyes and swallowed the last of his cookie. He sat up so he could face her. She finally looked in his eyes and he looked into hers. She was searching for something, but she didn't know what. He was hoping that his father's story would be easier to tell for him than it was for Maya since he had already lived through that, but his expectations were low. He hated his father.

He wasn't sure he would become sad, like Maya, more angry. But with the same type of consistency; he hated his father. It took him awhile to muster up the courage, or the calm, to speak about his father. He never spoke about his father, rarely did he ever speak about it to Zay and Zay knew him pre and post-father; both were the same, but they were also different in radical ways. He wasn't the same, goofy boy he had always been before his father.

"My dad left when I was born," he finally said. "It—it wasn't like yours," he muttered, choosing his words carefully. He understood why Maya didn't look at him in the eyes. It was damn _hard_ , it felt like if he did, he would spill all of his secrets to her. He was seriously biting the urge not to cry. "I didn't experience years of abuse before he left. He had just gone. No trace, we didn't track him down either. My mom told me while he was gone that he had a temperamental streak, and I was glad that he wouldn't be around so I could attain it."

He looked back at the clock. It was starting to get late. He then looked back at Maya, whose face was porcelain and tender. He could never imagine someone hurting her, he could never imagine _him_ hurting her. He would beat himself to a pulp if he did, or at least make Zay do it. He got angry at her father, and then at his, and then at hers again. His anger was starting to become jumbled, messy. "I was a good, happy kid for a few years. It was just me and my mom. We were good alone, we worked well together. And—and then he just kind of—he kind of showed up. I was in fifth grade, I was eleven. He had left for eleven years and decided to—show up. Just out of the blue. I was hoping he was dead."

Maya recognized that look in his eyes. The pure anger that seethed through him; she got that whenever she thought about her father. She was hoping he was dead, and she was hoping that Lucas's father was dead too. She really hoped. "I don't know why he thought it was okay to try to weasel his way back into my family. I didn't know this man, he wasn't my father. I didn't have two parents, I had one. One that stuck by my side, and we didn't need him. I didn't know him and I didn't need him. But he was just _there_ and my mom didn't do anything. She was kind of terrified, she never talked about my father to me. She thought it was for the best because he wasn't the best man and boys shouldn't have fathers like that."

He breathed. Maya's hands were small in his, she was warm and comforting. "I kind of collected some stuff with the way my mom walked around him. She never said anything about him reappearing, she just kind of went with it. Like he didn't leave from her life for eleven years, like that. But I didn't know how to act around him, he was literally a stranger in my home. But I could tell he was my father, he liked cinnamon. And the chin and my lips and we walked the same way. It was scary thinking that at eleven years old I could end up like my father and abandoning my family.

"I mean, I guess my mom and father had never gotten around to the whole 'divorcing' thing. Like they never had the time, I don't know. I started to notice something about my mom, the way she walked. It was sort of limp-like, and she had bruises on her—around her wrists and hip. She may have had a black eye, I don't really remember. My father was kind of a blur. He never touched me, though. I think he kind of ignored that I existed like I was a figment of his imagination. It sucked, not having a father for eleven years. Your mom refusing to tell you a single detail about him other than he got angry—but I understood why. She didn't like to relive the past, he had serious abusive tendencies. He had been abusing her mentally since they started dating and when they got married he sort of tipped into the other direction. You're, like, this eleven-year-old kid imagining his father as a firefighter or maybe he went into the army and was drafted and he's fighting all the bad guys. It kind of sucks getting your reality shifted, your dad isn't fighting the bad guys, your dad _is_ the bad guy.

"I think—" he choked on his words. He didn't know how to say it, to face the reality of what happened. He doesn't talk about it to his mom, he didn't want to. He didn't want to talk about it to Zay. But he had to look up at Maya and he saw her there, her blonde hair shimmering in the dim light and her concerned face and her light cheeks and he had never felt more secure than ever before. "My dad raped my mom. Before I was born. After I was born. He left for eleven years and then raped her again. I don't even know if I was the product of something consensual. That's really gross to think about, I'm sorry. He was disgusting. He was disgusting. I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him—"

He hadn't even noticed he was crying until the tears splashed his collarbone and Maya had taken upon herself to wipe them away. She held his face in her hands, and he could see the pity and the hurt and the understanding all mixed into one. What was worse than bottling all the pain in by yourself and letting it grow and hurt you for seven years? Knowing that someone you loved was going through the same thing.

His face was in her hands and his lip was quivering. It hurt knowing that his father was still out there. That his mom had never been brought to justice, that they had to quite literally _flee_ his father and run away from him across the country, in a big city where it would take him years to find them. He couldn't go back to that, he just couldn't. Perhaps his father was still looking for him, maybe he moved on. He didn't know which was worse. Maya spoke five words that had brought him over the edge, that had finally let his waterfall run free from his face. Her eyes were intent on his and he could see the tears down her face as well. She understood. That was the worst part. He didn't want anyone to ever go through what he lived through. "I am so— _so_ —sorry," she whispered to him. She released her hands from his face and wrapped him in a hug, a tight hug that he couldn't escape, not that he wanted to. He buried his face in her shoulder and he sobbed, and he sobbed, and he sobbed. Maya was on his lap and his arms were around his waist and he was almost remembering the week prior when she had been in this same position, except drunk and professing her love to him.

He wished he could go back.

But he didn't. He wouldn't have had this, had this moment with Maya where they knew they weren't alone. He knew what it was like, to have no one understand you. Quite frankly, it sucked. Zay tried to understand, but his dad loved him, loved him to the moon and quite possibly further. His mom was always there for him, he had a big family, a grandma that cooked him cookies and one that didn't but loved him nonetheless. And Farkle came from wealth, and his parents loved him beyond what he could comprehend. And Riley had the perfect family, a perfect life. Nothing went wrong, literally _nothing_. And there was Maya, maybe she was something of a missing piece. She was starting to fill that hole in his heart that his father created, one that was a void. It sucked. And Maya understood. He wasn't pitied by her, but she understood. He thought that in that moment, with her arms wrapped around him and her sitting on his lap that nothing else mattered. The world could collapse and he would be alright because he would have her in his arms.

/

It didn't make anything easier because it was going to get harder. But it was nice to talk to him, because for once in her life, someone could relate. She knew, though, that Josh was the next subject matter. He didn't bring it up; at some point, they kind of stopped asking each other questions. They were both sad, extremely sad. Something opposite of the mirth she had felt when she had seen Lucas on Wednesday. But knowing that he was there with her made it better, even if only by a little bit.

"I loved Josh. I don't know if I was in love with him. It was some sort of infatuation, but it was very real to me. It started when I was in seventh grade. He had told me I had grown, which was kind of creepy for a high school senior to say to not even a freshman—but I didn't care. Because his eyes were this deep brown and they made me melt—I don't know. It was all very—very—" she stopped. She didn't know what to say. They had decided to lie down, next to each other, on the couch. She was squished against the cushion, while he was lying out on the outside of the couch, his right foot hanging off the edge slightly.

She was tucked just under him, his arm secured around her. Her face was buried in his chest, and he smelled like cinnamon. Like sweet cinnamon and summer and she couldn't imagine what his father smelled like. She was thinking more of dark cinnamon, burnt cinnamon, and death. His left hand was in her hair, playing with the soft tendrils since her hair had popped out of its elastic. It was a small, comforting gesture. She appreciated it.

"He was manipulative. He made me think I was worthless. I don't know what attracted me at first. He was a Matthews, and Riley was a Matthews, and Matthews had it perfect. And I just had to be a Matthews. I stayed, even after the abuse started. I don't know why I did, but I stayed. He reminded me of my father at times, which was kind of scary, because my father beat my mother senseless—no, sorry, Kermit beat my mother senseless. He doesn't get to be my father. He stopped being that the moment he touched my mom."

The shirt started to smell like Josh again. It disgusted her. Why did she wear it in the first place? "This—this is Josh's," she said, sitting up from their position on the couch. "I—I don't know why I wore it. It was just—just—j—just sitting there in my—my—in my closet and I—I saw it and I d—d—don't know why I decided to wear it," she stuttered. She hated Josh. He had brought her so much pain. She hated him.

That was okay, Lucas told her. Maya wanted to rip it off her body. It's okay, he had to tell her. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Shhh, shhh, shhh. He had to go up to his room and grab a shirt for her. It was big, probably one of his workout shirts and Maya switched it as soon as she gave it to him. She threw Josh's shirt across the room and let it crumple in the corner, cowering. He was a coward. Josh was a coward.

Maya liked Lucas's shirt, she could almost get the smell of Josh out of her nose. He smelled like cinnamon, and cinnamon smelled good. She loved cinnamon. Lucas had to hold her because she was sobbing too much, she didn't really make much sense. It took awhile for him to understand her since she was curled into him like a teddy bear. He hadn't even asked her to share with him about Josh, he would have never asked, anyway. He knew it was a touchy subject, the whole reason she even met him in the first place.

He supposed he should thank him for that, but he wasn't going to.

"This is a lot of grief," she finally said, feeling herself calm down. "I haven't talked about this in forever. Sorry if I look crazy."

He told her not to apologize. She had nothing to apologize for.

"Okay—" she finally muttered, wiping her nose with his shirt. He didn't mind. "Okay—okay—okay. He was, um, Josh... He—" she closed her eyes to think for a moment. "He was really manipulative. He wasn't abusive to me, at first. He—he showered me with love. Presents, things that would make me happy. I guess I never really got around to telling him that materials didn't make me happy, but his love did. He wasn't the affectionate type, I guess not toward me, anyway. It started to kind of veer. It was already weird that he was so old and dating me at so young.

"We started dating when I was sixteen. He must have been twenty-one at the time. Riley—Riley was _all_ for our relationship. She wanted me to be a part of her family as much as I did. After a few months, he became distant. But I loved him. So I didn't care. I guess he was doing his thing with someone else. He started to yell at me when I asked where he was. He said I was too clingy, that I was desperate. God knows why I stayed with him, but I did. I thought I could change him. That's the funny thing; when you think you can change them.

"He was really abusive emotionally. Like—like—" her breath hitched, "like—um—he would tell me I was worthless. He'd grab me by the arm and shake me until he scared me and tell me I was worth nothing." This hurt Lucas's brain. It angered him, too. Here was Maya, curled up into him like a teddy bear, her heart on her sleeve. Her walls down, vulnerable. He couldn't imagine taking advantage of that. She continued. "And then—then he'd kiss me at night. He told me he loved me like he had never loved anyone else before. And then he'd do it again, and then he'd kiss me. It never stopped.

"I guess I finally understood what was happening when he hit me." Lucas clenched his jaw at that and held her tighter. He didn't want to let her go. "He—he—it reminded me of my father. It all kind of flooded over me. Emotionally abusive, emotionally abusive, emotionally abusive. I told Riley about what happened and she believed me despite the fact that Josh was her uncle—is her uncle. Cory didn't believe me, which kind of sucked, I mean. It really sucked. Topanga did, though. She really did. She trusted me. I trust her.

"That was something like four months ago. I still miss him, though. Even after what he did to me. It's hard to shake that away. You miss the thing that anchored you the most, but he didn't only anchor me, he let me drown. And then he saved me. And then he let me drown."

/

Maya was still curled up against him when he decided to speak; she found it distracting to play with the hair on his neck. "Misty—man, I loved her. I did. She was—she was great. She looked kind of like you, she had this long blonde hair that hit her mid-back when it was down, but she mostly kept it up. But, she was tall, a lot taller than you. And she had green eyes, kind of like mine, but they were darker and held a lot more mystery.

"I met her when I was fifteen. It had been post-father, so things were better than before, but after going through what I did, I would have never been the same. But Misty kept me grounded. She made me feel like myself again. I met her at this yoga class my mom had decided to drag me to, which I hated but the yoga teacher had this girl, about my age, sitting next to her. That was Misty. She was the yoga teacher's daughter."

Lucas talked about her with such pride, like he truly loved her. Maya had to wonder what it was like, to be in love. She wondered what happened between them. "We hit it off. She figured out I was from the South since I had a deep southern accent at the time and she kept bugging me and asking me what it was like. She never liked New York, she thought it was too stuffy, too much of a big city. She was wild, she loved running and hiking and mountain biking and surfing, which she had never done since she lived in New York her whole life. But she loved it. She loved three things in her life, the wilderness, her mom, and me.

"And I loved her. I really did. I loved her with all of my heart; when I love someone, I think I love them so deeply that my heart aches. I grow attached, it's dangerous. Because—because—" Maya could feel his lip quiver. She listened to his voice through his chest and his steady breaths that reminded her of the sea. "Because—I—I just break down. I think it's because of my father. I don't really enjoy when people abandon me.

"It sucked. Because she loved the wilderness and although I missed Texas, I didn't want to go back. Not at the time anyway. I didn't want to see my father. That sucked, because she wanted to move there with me, and grow old, or something. But I didn't. She didn't understand. I didn't understand. It was all very stupid, she got this scholarship thing in Australia and she said she'd be there over the summer. Two months was all she told me. But I—I couldn't let her go. It was dangerous, I had built my happiness on her, if she left, so did my happiness. It was wrong, depending on someone like that. I fought with her about it but I should have been happy. I should have let her go, and she would have come back. But I knew that she wouldn't. Australia was something she wanted to go do, she wanted to go see. She had never been outside of New York and Jersey and she wanted to explore and travel and I couldn't keep that away from her. Our last conversation was something I remember vividly. She was telling me how she was going to Australia and I couldn't stop her. And she left. And so did a part of me. She filled the void of my father, and she just... _left_. It was partly my fault. I—I shouldn't have grown such an attachment.

"What's worse is that I kept counting down the days until she would come back. Two months. And then she didn't come back. Two more. And she didn't. Two more; and then I finally realized that she left me. In New York, sad, broken, alone, an abusive father on the loose. Just my mom and I. It sucked."

He breathed to catch his breath. He wasn't quite done. "I sometimes miss her. It was hard, it was really hard trying to—trying to get over her. You don't just get over someone like _that_ ," he snapped his fingers for indication. "I had to build my happiness on my own. I did things that reminded me of her. I played baseball, and I loved it. I had played baseball before but not as intensely and it came naturally to me. Zay and his family moved up to New York to help me. It was nice knowing I had somebody. I had Farkle, and he had Smackle, but I also had her as well. It took a _long_ ass time," he finally said, concluding. "But I was starting to become happy again. I—I'm not there quite yet," he stuttered. He took note in her hand and started tracing random patterns in her palm. "I'm still working toward it. I don't think I can ever be as happy as I was before my father, but I'm hoping I can get close to that."

"We'll get there," she finally said, breaking her silence. "We'll have a name," she decided. "Project: Get Lucas Happy. And we'll do whatever it takes. I don't care. We could get you on meds, or something. You love baseball. We could go to baseball games. I'm fully part of the team Get Lucas Happy."

His heart overflowed with love. He had no idea how he was so lucky to call Maya his friend, how she was curled up to him, intent on making him happy and successful. Even after everything she had told him, she was still dead-set on other people's happiness. At some point, it wasn't fair; for her.

They had made their way through 20 questions; well, 20 questions for Maya and 19 questions for Lucas. Lucas's last question toward Maya was whether or not she was ticklish in which she threatened to punch him. "What's it like," she muttered, finding her spot comfortably in his arms on the couch, "what's it like to be in love?"

Lucas's heart stopped. She had never been in love. She was infatuated with Josh, sure, and manipulated, but she hadn't known what it was like to be in love. Misty had screwed Lucas over royally, but nothing compared to what Josh did to Maya—and Misty gave Lucas the best thing she could. Love. Which sounded cliché, sure, but experiencing love was truly the best thing to ever happen to him. And the worst.

"It's—" he stopped for a moment. He couldn't think. What was it like? Misty seemed like a memory. "It's different for every person, I guess," he started, tracing random patterns on her arm. "You—you get this feeling, around this person, and it's hard to comprehend. You think that they're the best thing to ever happen to you. They make you a better person, they build you up and tear you down; but all for the better. Your heart aches and tugs and you—you want to be near them. It's like they're magnetic. You want to touch their skin, you want to share their grief, you would sacrifice yourself for them. It sucks because you know you'd quite literally go insane if anything happened to them. It's all—" he stopped.

Maya was asleep in his arms, her breaths slow and steady. Her eyes were slightly puffed due crying numerous times; dry tear stains were located down her cheeks. But he had never seen her so tranquil, so at peace. A stray strand of hair poked out of her hair and he pulled it back and tucked it behind her ear, looking at her.

She, quite honestly, was the best thing to ever happen to him. She challenged him, understood him, built him up. This was crazy, he was crazy. "It's all—you would—you would do anything for them," he whispered.

Why the hell did Maya say no falling in love? And he thought he was good at following rules.

* * *

 **i dont know how to feel about this chapter lol. the next chapter will be next week and then ill be slowing down my updates slightly because i need to write the chapters lol**

 **review and fave**


	8. week 8

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
 **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**  
 **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**  
 **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**  
 **7\. get creative! paint fight**  
 **8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!**  
9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **November 20th - November 26th**_

 **November 19th**

Due to the fact that Lucas was quite temperamental when he wanted to be and globbed paint at Maya for offending his painting, which she really didn't do, they decided that they should skip week seven, since they had already, sort of, accidentally completed it in week four. It was nice seeing him in the halls, though, but she was dreading Saturday. She never did anything on Saturday besides hanging out with Lucas.

She propped her head up on her hand while she turned on her phone. It was nearly six o'clock and she hadn't done anything all day besides watch Gilmore Girls and text Lucas dumb quotes about farming. In all honesty, it was a pretty productive day, on her part.

She and Lucas had grown pretty close due to the fact that she shared all of her deepest and darkest secrets with him while he did the same with her. It was honestly kind of refreshing, having someone to hang out with in the halls other than Riley. He was kind of a dork, he insisted on walking her to class just to double (triple) check that she wouldn't sprain her ankle again. Albeit, he was annoying and kind of a doofus, but she enjoyed having him around.

Which certainly explained why she was itching to text him something other than farm quotes or hang out with him. This would have been the first Saturday in many where she wouldn't be hanging out with Lucas. And, admittedly, it kind of sucked.

She pushed her glasses back onto her face and slapped her laptop shut, tired of Rory Gilmore for a moment. She had decided to spend her time picking up her room with her feet. She should have probably been doing her Calc homework but she intended not to do that as long as possible. Besides, the task of trying to throw your bra into the hamper with only your toes was too attractive to give up.

She was shooting her third bra when her phone rang. She grumbled and stalked her way back to her bed, discarding the bra near the door. Her phone read 'huckleberry' and had a contact picture of a goat. Suited him. She wondered why he was calling, though, since they decided to take a week break. She answered the phone by clicking the green button and put it on speaker. She decided to go back to throwing bras in her hamper with her toes.

"Hello?" he asked her, his voice static-y due to the poor reception. "Maya, can you hear me?"

"Where the hell are you?" she asked him, grabbing a hi-lighter with her toe. "Why do you sound demonic?"

His voice faltered for a moment as her cell phone beeped, indicating that she should plug it in. She decided to ignore the warning and balance a book on her head. "I think I'm under the bridge near your apartment," he finally said. "The reception sucks."

"Go figure," she muttered sarcastically, crawling over to plug in her phone. "Why are you at the bridge under my house, anyway? And why are you talking while driving?"

"Both two questions are very good things to ask," he said, his voice clearing up. "Okay, now I'm not under the bridge anymore but I was for a reason. And I really don't know why I'm talking while driving. I'm probably going to die."

"That wouldn't be very good," she laughed, taking the device off speaker and pulling it up to her ear.

"Anyway, I called you for a reason. But it's a surprise. And now I'm parked in your parking lot. And now I've taken the key out of the ignition. And now I unlocked my car. Okay, I'm stepping out. Dear god!" he gasped. "It's cold. If I don't die of talking to you on the phone, I will definitely die of hypothermia. Now I'm walking up to your building and—" _thud_.

"Lucas? What the hell?"

"Oof," he grunted, and Maya could hear him rub his hand against his jeans. "That hurt my butt. I slipped on ice."

"Okay, you know what?" she said, flipping on her back so she could stare at her ceiling. "I really do not need a play by play of you walking up to my apartment, but thanks. Just text me when you're here." She took the phone off of her ear and clicked the decline, red button. She was wondering why Lucas had come to her house on a Saturday when they weren't supposed to hang out. That was the point, she thought, not to hang out. He kind of sucked at this.

A few minutes after hanging up on him, she heard his familiar knock on the door. She was pretty certain he was knocking to some Taylor Swift song, but she didn't take the time to notice. She opened the door to reveal a big, tall Huckleberry wrapped up in his coat. She noticed how wet his jeans looked on the backside. "What have you been doing all day?" he asked her, stepping into her apartment without any permission.

"Watching Gilmore Girls and texting you farm quotes, but I'm pretty certain you already knew that. And, what are you doing here anyway? This was our one day off from each other."

He shrugged, and sat down on her couch, still rubbing his arms due to the coldness outside. Maya didn't have the best heater, but she got used to it over time. "I missed you," he said truthfully. Maya's cheeks flushed with color.

"It's been _one_ day," she laughed, sitting down next to him and setting her head on his shoulder. "What have _you_ been doing all day?"

"I didn't know it was a crime to miss you," he giggled, moving one of his arms away from his torso and putting it around her shoulders to pull her closer. "I was doing my homework like a good kid. You could learn from me sometime."

Maya laughed at him. He was so goddamn annoying.

Maya had decided to put on the TV to pass the time with Lucas, and dreadfully, Gilmore Girls was on. But they watched it anyway.

Lucas wasn't as cold anymore, Maya was particularly warm for some reason. "Hey," he said, turning toward her. "I like your glasses."

She couldn't help but smile.

/

 **November 24th**

Maya loved her mom, she really did. She spent thousands of hours working double shift just to pay for a roof to live under and food. Not only that, she was saving up for the horrible thing that was Christmas, which made her work even more. And since it was Thanksgiving, she got payed double than what she normally did, and as she told Maya, she could _not_ pass up the opportunity.

It stung a little, knowing that her mom had to work instead of spending a holiday about family with her. Between her religious retreats and work, she didn't seem to have a lot of time for Maya. But she was used to it. She opted out of having dinner with Riley's family for the first year in what felt like forever. Inevitably, Josh was going to be there. And she didn't want to see him, like, at _all_. Riley tried to jump out of the dinner as well but was pulled back by her mother.

A family thing. And Maya wasn't part of the family anymore. Not with Josh, anyway.

So it definitely came a surprise to her when she heard a knock on her door. She recognized that knock, it was to the tune of Bad Blood by Taylor Swift. _Lucas_.

She looked like a complete mess. Her hair was stacked up on her head messily and she was wearing her ugly glasses that she had forever. It didn't help that her sweats were covered in Chinese takeout that she ordered yesterday for her and her mom. But she answered the door anyway, she thought he didn't care. (He didn't).

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, turning the knob on the door nervously as he peered around her into her apartment. She suddenly felt self conscious. Her apartment definitely wasn't the most luxurious place to be.

"Is your mom coming home for Thanksgiving?"

She wanted to say something so he wouldn't be burdened with her problem of a half-there mom. Like _lie_. She wanted to say that she would be back in an hour and there was already a Turkey cooking in the kitchen but, truthfully, the pizza delivery guy was on speed dial. And if she told him, anyway, he could see right through her. It sucked that he could read her like an open book.

So she told him the truth. "Uh—no. She's at work."

"Oh," he said, coming in her apartment. "That's good, I guess."

Maya raised an eyebrow at him. No one had ever told her that her mom being gone was _good_.

"There's an extra place at my house. You should come. My mom always cooks way too much, knowing there's only two of us."

Maya's mouth hung open. Out of all things coming from his mouth, she was _not_ expecting that. It took her a moment to collect what she was saying when Lucas handed her her coat. "Yes—uh—yes," she stuttered. She shook her head, letting the loose curls come out of her ponytail. She didn't even bother changing out of her messy attire as she slipped into her slippers. "I'd—I'd like that."

/

 **November 26th**

Lucas had made a couple of things clear: his friends were, quite honestly, crazy. Zay was the second biggest gossip in the school, right behind Jessica Wheeler and she wrote for the damn school newspaper. Farkle was really, really smart, but Maya had gotten a glimpse of how odd he was. He listened to Mozart and rap combined. Smackle, Lucas didn't really know what to say about her. She would have to find out for herself.

Riley had picked Maya up from her apartment and they all had intentions of meeting at the school. With Riley was Charlie and Yogi. Riley had no idea why Maya had decided to invite Yogi but she wanted Lucas to get really freaked out by her friends, no matter how odd that was. She was just hoping Lucas would feel uncomfortable.

It was up to Riley and Charlie (save Yogi) to come up with something to do with Lucas. Maya had absolutely no say in the matter since she would be with his friends, but she was hoping Riley was starting to lean more toward her crazy side this certain day.

Riley pulled up to the school a few minutes before schedule while they waited about twenty more minutes until Lucas showed up. Lucas was _awfully_ punctual, to a fault, so it came to a surprise when he showed up late. But Lucas explained that Farkle was driving and he normally drove twenty miles under the speed limit. Lucas claimed Farkle was the whole reason New York had traffic.

Everyone was outside, circling or sitting on their cars while Riley stood in front of them to give them a well prepared and planned speech. Lucas and Maya were squished together near Farkle's car because she claimed she was cold but she wouldn't let Lucas give up his sweater so he insisted on staying near her anyway because of body heat or something. Zay wasn't buying it.

"All right!" Riley said enthusiastically, her cheeks tinted rose because of the harsh cold. "Here we are, today, my friends, to enjoy this momentous occasion!" There was an awkwardly scattered applause among the group. "We come here together to join with Lucas and Maya in celebrating them. We will do all that we can—"

"Riles," Maya said, cutting her off. All heads turned toward her. Her hands were deep in her coat pockets but her entire right side was against Lucas's left side. "This isn't a marriage. Can we please just go with our groups and get this over with?"

A scattered "agreed" fell among the group. Riley furrowed her eyebrows angrily. "Ugh," she grunted, stomping her foot. "We're supposed to switch friends for a day. This is big stuff."

"Not as big as you're _making_ it."

Riley rolled her eyes and hopped down from the salt box. "Okay, okay," she muttered. "Let's get going. And please, nothing illegal."

/

Maya was squished in the back between Farkle and Smackle since Zay had insisted on driving. She wasn't sure who was worse at driving, Farkle since he drove twenty miles under the speed limit, or Zay who drove twenty miles over the speed limit. She was suddenly missing the comfort of it just being her and Lucas in his car. She was wondering how it was going with Lucas. She hoped much worse.

She didn't know how the seating arrangements came to be, but she was crammed between Farkle and Smackle while Zay was playing one of Farkle's mixtapes at the front. She would have sat next to Zay but her ears would have blown since Zay had turned up the music so loud and the front oddly smelled like cranberries. Sitting between Farkle and Smackle wasn't the brightest idea since all they did was fight over science, so Maya couldn't make sense over half of what they were saying.

"So!" Maya shouted over Smackle and Farkle's arguing as well as Farkle's weird mixtape music. "Where are we going?"

"Just, you know," he said, pushing harder on the gas pedal, "the _us_ z," he said, only using the first part of the word _usual_ for emphasis.

"And where would _that_ be?!"

"It's a surprise!"

Meanwhile, Farkle and Smackle were currently arguing whether or not the pinky toe would cease to exist in a few thousand years.

"It's _completely_ useless," she argued, taking off her shoe to shove her foot in Farkle's face. "Our pinky toe is like the monkey's or the chimpanzee's, which may I mention, is our closest relative."

"I am _well_ aware that the chimpanzee is our closest relative!" Farkle said back defensively. "Our pinky toe is a necessity, it enables us to climb and it helps stable us when we walk."

"You're so foolish," Smackle said, shaking her head. Maya was seriously regretting sitting between them. "It was used to help us climb, but we don't climb with our feet anymore. We use our hands more often than we use our feet, so it's foolish to think that we need to use them anymore!"

"Ooooooo-kay," Maya said, leaning over to the radio and cranking the volume down. Both Farkle and Zay protested but Maya relented and gave the two men in the car stern looks. "Will you two stop fighting? Please? Also, Smackle is right. The pinky toe is useless."

Smackle smiled triumphantly and stuck her tongue out at Farkle who stuck his tongue back. They were so childish despite being the smartest people in their school. "Alright, okay, let's just talk. That's what Lucas and I normally do in the car."

"Lucas is _boring_ ," Smackle said, running her fingers through her messy hair. "He's also kind of hot. I get why you're hanging out with him."

" _Smackle_!" Farkle yelled. Smackle stuck out her tongue again.

Maya began to understand when Lucas said he couldn't explain Smackle. "Okay, okay," she said, turning toward Smackle. "You're Farkle's girlfriend?"

"Excuse _me_?" she said. "I am _much_ more than Farkle's girlfriend! And may I _mention_ that I am like three IQ points ahead of him? That I am."

Maya nodded her head wearily, it seemed as if she was processing too much information at one time. Maya turned to Farkle. "And you're Farkle."

"Yes, that I am. And I am well aware you think my music as, oh how did Lucas put it? Irrelevant and trashy. But that's alright, I can clearly see in that small brain of yours that you cannot appreciate _true_ art like Mozart rap. It's a shame, really."

Maya's cheeks flushed as Farkle threw an insult at her. It wasn't a secret that she didn't do the best in school, but Farkle had no right to point that out. Just because he was smart didn't mean he had the right to point out other people's weaknesses. She was good at art and that was all that mattered. "Okay, then," she said, clenching her fist and trying to restrain herself from punching Farkle and Smackle, more so Farkle, but both because they wouldn't shut the hell up. "And Zay!"

"That I am!" he said, flooring the pedal. She didn't know what to say anymore and let Zay turn the radio back on. She attempted to drown out Farkle and Smackle as they continued to argue, so she pulled out her phone.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:29 PM  
** **seen: 4:29 PM  
** plz tell me youre having it worse

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:30 PM  
** **seen: 4:30 PM  
** I like your friends! They're really nice to me. Although, Yogi takes some getting used to.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:30 PM  
** **seen: 4:30 PM  
** so youre NOT having it worse? ?

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:30 PM  
** **seen: 4:31 PM  
** What are they doing?

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:32 PM  
** **seen: 4:32 PM  
** idk where to even start. um? ? ? farkle and smackle are fighting over pinky toes and zay is blasting farkles mixtape that consists of mozart and rap. ? ? HELP!

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:32 PM  
seen: 4:32 PM  
**They just take some getting used tof sdnfdg sdfdgf HEY MAYA IT'S CHARLIE!

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:33 PM  
seen: 4:33 PM  
**plz tell me ur torturing him

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:35 PM  
** **seen: 4:35 PM  
** I hope so! Why does this guy have auto-cap on. OF SDKLSDFLKDJ DS HES TRYING T TTAKE AWAY TH PHEONE!

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:36 PM  
** **seen: 4:36 PM  
** I saw that Maya! They're not going to torture me just because you want me to be tortured.

Maya heard Zay turn down the volume of the car radio which Maya figured was the cue that they were slowing down to their stop.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:36 PM  
** **seen: 4:36 PM  
** ill talk to u later. wish me luck

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:36 PM  
seen: 4:37 PM  
**Good luck!

"Here we are," Zay said, not even bothering to slow down while he shoved the gear into park. Maya didn't even bother looking at the parking job; she wasn't quite sure she had wanted to. Farkle and Smackle hopped out of the car on both sides of Maya and found their place on the sidewalk. Amazingly, they weren't fighting and Smackle had Farkle's coat wrapped around her snugly. Smackle wasn't big on physical contact so they neglected to hold hands, but Farkle was close to her side.

Maya triple checked the location with her phone. She _knew_ she had recognized the route Zay was going, albeit he was going much faster than Lucas had gone, but she recognized the signs. They were here three weeks prior for week five when she had decided to take him to that art museum with those stolen keys. This time was different, though. She didn't have the keys and Lucas would have told her if she needed them in the first place.

"Why are we here?" she asked Zay, turning her body to face him with her hands shoved deep in her coat pockets. Her cheeks were turning a shade of rose due to the bitterness nipping at her flesh.

"Lucas didn't go into details," he explained while he furrowed through the center console for something. He neglected to explain the rest until he grabbed what he needed, slamming Farkle's door shut while Farkle flinched sadly at his car being mistreated. He held out four tickets in front of Maya's face. "But he did tell us that you wanted tickets to this place. He bought them all."

Maya raised her eyebrows in a surprised matter. Each ticket cost upwards to seventy dollars, and she couldn't even _process_ the fact that Lucas would spend over two-hundred-eighty dollars on her. She knew why he was doing it, though. He wanted her to know what it felt like to be splurged on, to be acknowledged that someone cared. It went a lot deeper than that, too. He knew, even though she didn't tell him, that she felt awful for kinda-sorta breaking in with the keys that weren't hers. This made it possible so she could go at least once as a guest, not a break-in.

Her eyes started to well up with tears at the thought. She hadn't even had an opinion with what Riley and Charlie were going to do with Lucas, and she was suddenly wishing that they didn't torture him. He was too good for her.

"This—" she paused for a moment to collect her breath "—this is _amazing_. I can't—I can't believe he would do this for me."

"Yeah," Zay laughed, shaking his head while he handed out the tickets to everyone. "Neither can I. Do you want to know what he got me for Christmas? A plastic baseball bat. He got it from the dollar store. I can't even believe he'd just spend all this money on you willy-nilly."

Maya prided herself in the fact that Lucas even _would_. She was so overwhelmed with joy that her tongue forbid her to speak. She couldn't even process anything in her brain. They had made their way up to the entrance of the art exhibition; it was a large, white building that would look insufficient to the untrained eye, but it was a well-known place among the art community. If you ever got your art featured, you must have been _damn_ good. Farkle and Smackle found their place next to Maya as they handed the front desk their tickets. The tickets were hole punched thrice in printed holes on the side. After the person had punched their tickets, they decided to hang out by the bathrooms to heat up because Maya knew for a fact that the heater was situated near that area.

"Lucas must really like you," Smackle finally said after the chattering subsided. Maya could almost feel her fingers again. She didn't know how to respond to Smackle and decided to stay mute.

"Yeah," Farkle chimed in. "He talks about you all the time. It's kind of disgusting how in love he is with you."

Maya smiled at the thought but attempted to suppress it. "He's not—he's not in love with me," she provided, shaking her head. "I specifically told him not to do that."

"Like that helped," Zay laughed, rolling his eyes. "If anyone says anything remotely close to your name, he'll chime in and talk about you for an hour until everyone has left him and he's left talking to himself. He really does like you."

Maya was flustered with all of the attention. Her cheeks burned a bright red, probably a combination of the heater and the suggestions they were making toward her. She was hoping that Riley wasn't aiming anything toward Lucas in the same way Zay, Smackle, and Farkle were aiming toward her. Maya nodded her head in response and turned around, trying to hide the smile from them. "Come on," she said, leading the way to the several pieces of work around the building. "I've been here so many times that I know this place like the back of my hand. They might have something still up that I want to show you guys."

While the sign outside specifically said no photography, Farkle had managed to snap a few shots of Smackle posing goofily next to a few statues and pieces of work. Her favorite one was where Smackle stood in front of a painting and knelt down slightly so it looked like the fingers of the painting were giving her bunny ears. She had decided that she liked Lucas's friends, even though they were a bit much. But she assumed that, to Lucas, she was a bit much as well. Maybe that's why she and Lucas were such good friends. She was the missing piece in his friend group, grab along Riley.

Maya found some popsicles in the kitchen, which she had used the bobby pin in her hair to enter. There was no food or drink allowed either, and Maya would be sorely disappointed if they had gotten kicked out, but Farkle had a smear of chocolate on his nose and Zay had already finished his and she decided that she _really_ liked Lucas's friends. "Hey, I want to show you guys something," she finally said, mustering up the courage to show them her painting.

She had made her way to the part of the exhibition where her art piece hung up. It would only be up for a few more days so she was lucky that Lucas had gotten tickets when it was still being featured. "This—" she paused for a moment, feeling the butterflies fly in her stomach. She didn't want Lucas's friends to think she was a sucky artist. Lucas was different than them, though, she could tell. He would purposely tell her that her art was good, even if it wasn't, just to make her feel good. "—sorry. Uh, this is mine," she stated, pointing her finger toward the dark piece.

It was silent for a few moments, which Maya took as a bad sign. They wouldn't say anything intentionally rude, but they _would_ not say anything, just to avoid not saying anything rude. But then, Smackle, whom was the most cynical and honest person of the group, spoke.

"That is—that is amazing. That's—" she stopped for a moment, dropping her hand next to her side and whistling. The popsicle stick hung in her hand sadly due to her rejection. "Lucas. Wow, he—he picked a good girl to fall in love with."

Maya fought hard to suppress the blush on her cheeks. She was so flustered with Smackle's compliment that she didn't know how to respond. "Th—thank you."

"If Lucas could play as well as you could paint, he'd be professional by now," Zay stated, his eyes still glued to the painting. "I'm in awe. Lucas didn't even mention you had a piece here."

"I don't think Lucas _could_ ," Farkle said back. "No one could describe how well portrayed this. Just a glance at it and you can interpret what it means. It's so complex, it reminds me of my Mozart and rap mixtape. Truly amazing."

Maya looked down at her shoes and smiled. Her heart was so filled with joy; joy with Lucas for buying her a ticket here, joy with his friends for being so wonderful, joy with just _being_ ; she couldn't even process the words in her mind. Everything whizzed past in her brain, but it didn't really matter. For the first time in awhile, she was truly happy. And it was all because of Lucas.

/

Lucas felt his phone zing in his hand.

 **from: my favorite blonde girl  
** **sent: 4:29 PM  
** **seen: 4:29 PM  
** plz tell me youre having it worse

Lucas smiled at Maya. Her friends were nice! A lot nicer than she described them and totally not weird. Well, he had hoped they weren't. And so far, they were doing an A+ job of not being weird. Granted, he had met Riley several times before due to Maya and she was always had a shade of cuckoo on her, but she wasn't as odd as Maya had always let on. Charlie was nice enough, he had met him before, too. Though, Yogi was giving Lucas the creeps.

Charlie sat in the front with Riley while Yogi sat in the back with Lucas as he lied his feet on his lap. He had headphones in and was listening to something Lucas couldn't decipher but decided that he didn't want to. He quickly tapped a reply back and felt the phone zing again. A few texts back and forth resulted in Charlie grunting and leaning backward, snatching his phone straight away from him.

"Hey!" Lucas said defensively, leaning over to grab his phone back from Charlie. Charlie rolled his eyes and continued to text Maya.

A few zings between Charlie and Maya resulted in him leaning over and grabbing the phone, despite a few fumbles between the two of them. He exchanged a few more with the blonde before she sent him a goodbye text. He was really hoping she liked what she was going to do with her friends.

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 4:36 PM  
seen: 4:37 PM  
**Good luck!

He wasn't so sure he was as lucky as Maya. Yogi was to his right, picking his toenails. He suddenly missed Farkle's playlists, as dreadful as they were. Something was oddly soothing about Zay driving twenty miles over the speed limit and Smackle droning on about pinky toes and their purpose. Something was rather unsettling with the way Riley was looking back at Lucas in the mirror every few moments and then turning her eyes back to the road once he caught her.

"Okay, is there something in my teeth?" he asked seriously, rubbing his tongue over them.

"What!?" Riley asked surprised, swerving slightly into the other lane. Lucas saw his life flash before his eyes but Charlie merely held out his hand on the steering wheel to steady her. "Sorry—ha—ha. What did you say?"

"Is there _something_ in my teeth?"

"Oh!" she said, raising her eyebrows, snapping her eyes back to the road so she wouldn't swerve again. "You caught me looking at you. Maya always tells me I'm not as secretive as I think. And no, you don't have anything in your teeth."

Riley left it at that and neglected to say anything else on the matter.

Charlie licked the ice cream off of his spoon and looked over at Lucas suspiciously. "I like you, Lucas."

"Uh, thanks."

"You're a good guy. However, you should _know_ that I'm rather protective over Maya. So if you so much as lay a _finger_ on her, I'd punch your brains out silly." Lucas seemed unimpressed. Charlie weighed something of 110 pounds and he looked like a chicken wing but without the meat. And he remained rather foolish looking as he had ice cream on his nose and he was trying to lick it off with his tongue.

"Okay, I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

Riley's hands tightened around the steering wheel, her face turning white with concentration. "Look, Lucas, I know Charlie isn't the most impressive figure in the world—sorry honey—and I may look like a derp who trips over her shoe-laces, but I'll have you know," she stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, "I will protect Maya with my life. And if you _ever_ hurt her," she took this time at the red light to look Lucas in the eyes through the rear view mirror, " _ever_ hurt her; may it be physically, emotionally, verbally, I don't care. If you _hurt_ her at _all_ , I will cut you up with a butchers knife and scatter your remains in the ocean after I sauté you and feed you to my dog." The light turned green and Riley happily slammed her foot on the gas, smiling at Lucas without a twitch through the mirror.

"I—uh—okay," he said, slightly scared for his life. Lucas was seriously debating turning his attention toward Yogi, since at this point in time, he seemed like the most normal one in the car. And that was _seriously_ saying something.

Before Lucas could steal away Yogi's headphones for some one-on-one conversation, Riley suddenly made a sharp left turn and pulled into a parking lot, cutting off her engine and turning to Lucas. "We decided to take you to one of Maya's favorites, despite her constant protests that we should torture you. Luckily, tonight, we have decided against the idea of torturing you."

Lucas wasn't quite sure with what he was seeing. It was in a part of town he had never actually been to, since it wasn't on the way to school, his home, or Maya's home. People were silently bustling on the streets of New York, the traffic not too bad since it was only a Saturday. He wasn't sure which building he should look at it but he assumed it was the one next to the yoga studio.

"We're here!" Riley said in a sing-song voice, snapping off her seat belt and jumping out of the car. Charlie followed suit and quickly joined his hand with Riley's, her jacket hoodie on because the temperature was making her cheeks a light pink. After Lucas ambled out of the car, Yogi quickly followed suit, not even paying attention to the taller boy as he aimlessly flipped through his phone.

"What am I looking at, here?"

Riley pointed at the building next to the yoga studio with her free hand, just like Lucas assumed. "Since you've been on the—" she stopped for a moment, collecting her thoughts, "— _Maya_ train," she concluded happily, nodding her head; Lucas had to resist the urge to throw up, "for quite awhile, we thought it'd be nice to take you to one of her favorite places." Lucas's hands were itching to text Maya and ask her how she was doing with his oddball group of friends. Hopefully, well.

"I'm still confused."

"The first lesson in the school of Maya is that Maya doesn't open up easy. I think that's been evident since day one," she said, dragging Charlie along with her hand toward the building. Lucas lagged behind and payed note to the beige exterior and how the paint was chipping. It seemed abandoned. This gave Lucas an eerie feeling, he didn't want to be murdered. That was at the bottom of his bucket list. Well, it wasn't even _on_ his bucket list. "I know you two did twenty questions and whatever and she took you to her art exhibition secret not-so-secret thing-a-ma-bob and her little safe haven at the school. I think this is the only place left that you haven't visited that is important to Maya."

She opened the door with a key she pulled from her pocket. "The state owns this place, by the way. They haven't done anything with it. We think they forgot about it. It's sad to see such a useful building go to waste." Once the door was open, Lucas and gang filed into the building swiftly due to the nippy air outside. Riley shuffled around the area for a moment, kicking a paint can with her hands on the wall. She finally flicked a switch and light flooded Lucas's eyes.

"Oh," he said. "Oh, wow."

"She came here, mainly, when Josh was being kind of douche-y," she said, looking at Lucas to gauge his reaction. "You've heard about Josh, right?" He nodded his head, barely paying attention to Riley as his eyes stayed plastered to the wall. "Also, when her mom was ranting about some Christ retreat. This place—it came a sort of second home to her. It's in between her house and my house, actually. I think that's how she found it."

Lucas could tell that this was twenty types of illegal, but he didn't care. Her art was amazing, a complete part of her. The wall was painted lightly with pink flowers and random images and designs. The building was modestly large so a large portion of the wall was a blank canvas. It all sort of meshed together messily, but it made sense in Lucas's mind. Even though the unicorn riding across the rainbow contrasted the Led Zeppelin portrait next to it, he wasn't sure he had seen anything more suitable for Maya. He felt an emotion swell up inside of him, he couldn't pinpoint it at the time. But it was pride.

Not only were the walls intricately painted with professional designs, courtesy of Maya, a few canvases lied about the ground with unfinished paintings she had either taken from school or enveloped her time doing it here. Even the half-painted canvases were a masterpiece. Some were just scribbles and some were sketches that were partially filled in, but his heart swelled up with so much pride and love— _love_ for Maya, he couldn't even speak a word to Riley.

Illegal or not, Maya had talent. She deserved a name, he knew that much. If it came to be, he'd buy every single one of her paintings and scatter them around New York. He began to wonder if he could afford a neon sign that promptly stated _Maya Hart! Real Talent! Worship Her!_.

"She's—wow—she's good," he finally said, tracing his fingertips along the dry bumps on the wall. His eyes drifted to the edge of the wall where she had partially stopped painting. Near the end, something caught his eye. It was a small baseball bat hitting a ball. If you hadn't been paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed it. His eyes drifted to underneath the bat and read the number twelve. His jersey number.

His heart leaped from his chest and did a somersault. It wasn't even for the fact that the baseball bat and the ball were hyper-realistic, just the fact that she was thinking about him. _And_ remembered his number. Oh dear.

He didn't understand half of the things on the wall, but it didn't matter. As long as Maya made it, he would be happy. The canvases draped on the floor like a rug and Lucas took his time to ponder on each one. A partially drawn portrait of Riley, a scribbled picture of the beach, a messy drawing of Yogi listening to his headphones. None of them were perfect, some had eraser marks or were simply thrown out because she didn't like them. There was a large clump of papers situated near what must have been a trashbin. Lucas found himself drawn in that direction.

He picked up the first one. It had nothing on it, just a slight scribble that didn't make out any particular shape. He picked up the next one and he caught his breath. Only the right portion was sketched but he could tell who it was with the way she drew the jaw and how she slightly colored in the eyes. Sea green. It was him. He picked up another and only the top was drawn, but he could tell it was him as well. His hair was messy and unkempt, like it always was. Another one, this one was a little more than halfway finished. The ear wasn't properly drawn so she tossed it.

Paper after paper was an unfinished portrait of Lucas, like she couldn't capture him the way she wanted to. Even if it wasn't up to her standards, each piece was pretty damn amazing. Superb detail. He didn't understand art but he knew that she was _amazing_. His mind couldn't quite comprehend the complexity and ability of Maya's art. She hid it so well. She never boasted about it and was very humble.

Lucas decided, against his better judgment, to fold one of the half finished portraits of himself and stuffed it in his coat pocket. With it, he had no idea what he was going to do. Probably frame it or something or hang it up just above his wall, even though the left side of his face was missing.

Riley turned around and smiled at him, a slight twinkle in her eye. He began to feel warm, even though the air was nearing twenty degrees outside. Maya made him giddy.

On the ride back home, they stopped at a local pizza place to meet up with the other group. They were there before the others but Lucas kept himself occupied with his phone, texting Maya couple of times and consuming her with 8ball. She was _really_ bad at 8ball on the phone, but she promised she was much better with the real thing. He wasn't so sure.

"Hi," he heard a voice behind him say. His heart swelled up and he had a goofy smile on his face that he couldn't shake. He turned around to look at her and smile. She was layered in her winter coat, her hands stuffed deep into her pockets. Her cheeks were tinted rose due to the cold and when she smiled at him it felt like he was being hung upside down and swung around. It was a thrill.

"Hi," he said back, pulling out a chair for her to sit. She sat down next to him and put her elbows on the worn down table, setting her chin in her hands. She looked up at him and smiled at him cheekily. "You seem happy. I guess that means they didn't brutally torture you."

"I'd have to say the opposite, no." She laughed giddily and swayed slightly in her seat. She was so unbelievably happy, she might explode. "You seem happy as well. I guess they didn't torture you, either. Shame."

Maya laughed again. It was like an angels chorus to his ears, he enjoyed the sound so unbelievably much. "Thank you, Lucas," she said seriously, removing one of her hands to grab his that was by his side. His cheeks flushed with heat and he lost the ability to speak. "You have no idea how much you doing that for me meant to me. I can't even put into words how grateful I am for you. Thank you so much."

Lucas didn't know how to respond, he was at a loss for words. The way her small, mitten covered hand fit perfectly into his. He said the first thing that popped into his mind, which was, quite frankly, stupid. "You seem to be thanking me a lot. I thought Thanksgiving was two days ago."

She smiled again, a bit warmer than before. "I'm thankful for you everyday."

* * *

 **sorry for the late update. i didnt like how i was typing the chapter at one point i was going in this weird direction for both parties that didnt make sense and so i stopped for awhile and then i scrapped the whole thing and rewrote it into something i liked hahaha**

 **review and fave!**


	9. week 9

**objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
 **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**  
 **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**  
 **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**  
 **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**  
 **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**  
 **7\. get creative! paint fight**  
 **8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!**  
 **9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't**  
10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 ** _November 27th - December 3rd_**

 **November 29th**

Lucas didn't want to go to school, that was a fact. Like any other teenager, he hated finals that were coming up (again?!) in two weeks and he hated waking up at 6:30 so he could brush his hair and look semi-decent. But this particular day, he didn't want to go. At all. Not at all, in any way, any form.

Which made it all the worse that he had a test in English, the one day he didn't want to go.

It was his dad, this time. It happened the night prior. He was brushing his teeth and putting away his laundry, also managing to text Maya at the same time. Something about a weird new TV show that she had started binge watching. He also won another game of 8ball with her, but she was easily getting better. It was a good night. He had talked to Maya for as long as he could remember and his mom had made him an especially big dinner for no reason other than the fact that she wanted to.

When he had moved to New York, he got a new phone with no new contacts except Zay's, and his mom, of course. Now his phone was filled to the brim with random girls and some people from his school. In his favorites were Zay, his mom, and Maya. So when he saw the zip code for Texas, he had no idea which way to react. He assumed that Zay must have given his number to someone at his school when he left to keep in contact, but why would they have called them when he was a senior? It made no sense, but Lucas answered the phone anyway, ready to greet an old friend.

"Hello?" he said cautiously, picking up one of his shirts with his toe and throwing it in his closet.

The line was silent for a moment and when he heard the other voice on the line, his breath hitched. The voice was forever etched in his memory, the ugly raspy sound of it, the way it _ignored_ Lucas for the better part of his life. Just hearing his father's voice gave him chills up his spine and made him want to turn into a lump on his bed and hide there forever. "Lukey?"

The _nickname_ just ticked him off. Only his mom could call him Lukey. Not even Maya. Maybe Maya, but not his dad. Definitely not his dad.

Lucas had to clamp his mouth shut to avoid throwing his phone across the room and straight out the window. Lucas was seriously considering pretending that he had gotten the wrong number and he should look for a different Lucas. Or Lukey. Or whatever. Just to get him to stop talking to him because Lucas was fucking _spooked_. He considered calling the cops as well, but what could they even do? How had his dad found his number from all the way across the country?

No, he wasn't his dad. A _real_ father would have been there for him when he was growing up, wouldn't have neglected him or abused his mother. He was simply half of him—but that's as far as it went. Physically, he was his father. But emotionally, mentally, personality-wise, he was nothing like him. At least he could live with that.

Lucas thought for awhile and noticed that he hadn't responded to his dad—Frank. He didn't want to talk to Frank. But Frank thought it was a good idea to talk to him.

"I miss you and your mom," Frank decided. "You lot should come back to Texas. I have a new house, I think you would like it." He had a deep southern accent. It shook Lucas to his core. He continued to speak even though Lucas neglected to answer him. "A girl—a girl named Misty. She stopped by a few months ago. Gave me a number. Said it was yours, thought I would try it."

Lucas hung up. He flung his phone across his room in a fit of rage. Of course it was Misty. Of _fucking_ course it was Misty. Misty would so some crazy-ass shit like that. She tried to fucking fix _everything_ even if it was with a fucking rapist! He had told her about his _mom_ once and now she goes all the way to fucking _Texas_ to talk to his mom's rapist? That was twenty types of fucked up shit.

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? His dad knew his number all the way from Texas. What would he do? He would try to find him, that's for sure. His mom was in danger. Shit. Shit Shit. Fuck!

He couldn't think. He couldn't tell his mom. His mom would worry too much, she'd make him move all the way to Nebraska and then to Utah and then to California, just to make sure. That's how scary he was. His mom was going to therapy because of his fucked up dad— _Frank_. Dammit. His mind was running a million miles an hour and he didn't know what to think. All because of fucking _Misty_.

/

"Hey," Maya said cheerfully, a slight skip in her step. Lucas hadn't slept a wink last night so he couldn't really process what she was saying to him. "I just aced my Calc test!" she said happily, showing him the paper to prove herself. Truthfully, Lucas was happy for her. She deserved it after how hard she worked in that class. But he couldn't think straight, he felt his eyes go cross-eyed from all of the thinking.

Maya could read him like an open book. It was the one thing he didn't enjoy about her. Her expression quickly turned to a frown when she noticed how he didn't respond. He _always_ responded. "Hey, I haven't seen you in the halls all day. What's up, Cowboy?"

"Can you cool it with the Cowboy?" he asked sharply, turning his steely gaze on Maya.

Maya backed up quickly, noticing the tension radiate from his body. Shit, Lucas thought. First, his dad. And now he's fucking it up with Maya like a goddamn idiot, the only fucking good thing in his whole messed up and pathetic life. This was not good. "O-kay," she breathed, lingering on the 'o' of okay. "If you—I'm just—I'm going to go to class," she said finally, backing up and falling against the wall. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"No!" he said, grabbing her wrist and turning her toward her. Her eyes widened with something he recognized—fear. He had to stop. This was all too like Josh and her dad. He needed to stop letting his emotions get the best of him, Maya didn't deserve that. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I don't mean to act all harsh today, it's just kind of happening right now."

She paused for a moment, pursing her lips. He could tell by the way her eyebrows scrunched and how they creased that she was genuinely worried for him. She looked tense. He was causing her to worry, he hated when he did that. "You know," she stopped for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I'll always be here to listen to you."

That was something of a relief for Lucas to hear. He ran his hand over his face and shook his head as if he were trying to get rid of his thoughts that were pounding his brain. He needed to leave. He needed to talk to someone. Not Zay, not his mom, not Smackle, not Farkle, he needed to talk to _her_. "Can we go outside, for a little bit? It won't be long, I promise." He felt kind of bad for saying that because he knew, in the back of his brain, it was going to be a long time until she went back to class.

But he needed her right now. Surely she could understand that?

The bell rang profoundly through the halls. Maya winced in surprise as she heard the persistent thud in her head. "Well, I'm late anyway," she shrugged. "3D design can wait a few more minutes."

Lucas smiled. She was sacrificing her favorite class for him.

They decided against talking outside in the cold so Lucas led her to his car so he could turn on the heat. After a few minutes, so she could absorb the heat, she talked.

"Are you okay?" she asked seriously, reaching up her hand to press it against his face. He felt flushed. "You seem pale."

He began to talk, and when he started, he barely wanted to stop. He needed to tell someone, his whole body ached to tell her. It was consuming him alive. "My dad called me," he said, not stopping with the surprised look on her face. "I don't know how he got my—wait, no, I do. It was Misty. I hadn't talked to her in, what? A year? Two? I don't fucking know, and she sticks her nose in my business and decides to—decides to tell my rapist father—Frank—what my number is! What kind of level of fucking fucked up is that? I don't even know! He said he misses me. I don't want to tell my mom, she'll freak out. I don't know what to fucking do. This is weird. This is so shitty. My life is a fucking mess."

"Whoa there, Cowboy—Lucas. I mean, Lucas," she said, shaking her head. She breathed out, a big huff that let the windows steam. She seemed to ignore the fact that she was completely, and totally, skipping school. She grabbed his phone from his hand with a quick swipe. He didn't even protest, let her take it limply out of his hand and let her do whatever she was about to do. It took a few taps and then she handed his phone back, trying to smile for him. It wasn't that convincing. "His number is blocked."

"Okay," he said, breathing again and watching one of his hairs falling back into place. "Okay. That's a good idea. Block his number."

"Listen," she said, turning his face with her hands so he'd look at her. He desperately wanted to stare at the snow falling around his car but her eyes drew him in. Her thumb caressed his cheeks, coming close to the corner of his lips. "You're allowed to be mad. Don't think you're not allowed to get mad. Go punch a wall, or something, Lucas. Go rob a convenience store—wait, no, don't do that." He loved that she tried to make him laugh. It was almost working, he could feel his mouth twitch. "The day I found out that my dad had a new family, I punched Riley in the face. It was an accident, except it wasn't. I'm not saying you should punch Zay in the face, or anything, but do something to get your anger out. You need an outlet."

Lucas smiled at her. He wanted to kiss her, desperately. But his mind kept pondering back to something she said. "Your—your dad has a new family? Since when?" He knew it was a recent development since she would have said so during twenty questions.

Maya fidgeted uncomfortably, she obviously didn't want to talk to him about it. "It's not important."

"Yes it is," he insisted.

"No," she shook her head, running her tongue over her lips. "This is about you, remember? Stop trying to change the subject."

"Why are _you_ changing the subject?"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"I'm _not_ ," she said finally, removing her hands from his face and letting them fall to her lap. He missed the heat on his cheeks. "You called me outside to what? Talk about my dad? Drop it, Lucas. I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about my dad, either."

"They both suck, don't they?"

It was an attempt to lighten the mood but it left everything bitter and sour. Maya desperately needed a distraction. Lucas's car was heated to the brim despite the fact it was likely ten degrees outside. "Come on," she said, hitting his knee softly with her hand. "Let's go get some burgers. Get away from this place. You need a distraction."

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly, running his hand through his messy hair. "Burgers, that sounds like a good idea." Maya rubbed her temple with her fingers and breathed out slowly. She had never seen Lucas so distracted and worried and it worried her. Also, she forgot to eat breakfast and she was _starving_.

He turned his ignition and stuck the gear into reverse and pulled out of the school parking lot. She already knew where he was going, Umami Burger, probably the best burger joint in the whole of Greenwich Village. They didn't listen to music, this time. Instead, Maya lied her back on the seat and spent her time looking out the window and noticing the way each snowflake was different and unique.

After a few minutes of silence, Lucas decided to speak up. It was unlike them _not_ to talk, that was the one thing they were good at. Talking. They always talked, it made him uncomfortable not to. "Are you okay?" he asked her. He just started to notice the large bags under her eyes.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" she responded, slightly nippy. Lucas turned his eyes back to the street. Were they fighting? "Sorry," she said, rubbing her hand over face like he had a few minutes prior. "I just," she stopped for a moment to collect her breath. "I just don't _understand_ why you're asking if I'm okay when my dad didn't call me last night. You should be worried about yourself."

"You said your dad has a new family," he stated, pressing the brake pedal slightly as he approached a stoplight. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It didn't seem important," she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning back into the chair.

Lucas stayed silent for the rest of the short drive. It was evident she didn't want to talk to him about her dad anymore, and he was getting angry again with the subject of his father. He was seriously wondering why the universe hated him and Maya so _fucking_ much. His dad, her dad, Josh, Misty, no wonder they were a bunch of messed up weirdos.

Lucas parked on the curb and inserted a few coins into the dispenser for an hour. Maya hopped out of the car and before she could even think, she took Lucas's hand in hers. Lucas appreciated the gesture, knowing that Maya was there for him. He liked the fact that she didn't do anything else besides hold his hand. Just knowing she was there was enough to ground him.

She only let go of his hand after they ordered and when they sat down. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No," he responded honestly. What was he supposed to do about it? It was out of his power, no matter how fucked up it was. "Do _you_ want to talk about it?"

"No," she said back, and Lucas cracked a smile. Maya smiled back, turning her head around as she heard the shuffle of the waiters bringing their burgers. She sniffed and smiled widely, digging into her food like she had been starved. Lucas reached out and wiped the grease away from her mouth after she gulped down the whole thing.

She smiled at him.

Maybe the universe hated him, or something, and maybe his fucked up dad was looking for him and maybe he should have been a lot more worried than he was but it didn't matter, at least not at that moment. He had Maya, and, he thought, that's all that mattered.

/

 **December 3rd**

They didn't know what they were doing, to be completely honest. Week nine had less planning than Lucas had liked, and just the right amount of planning for Maya. Also known as _no_ planning. They drove around the neighborhood for awhile and then ventured out into the city of Manhattan, commenting on everything they saw.

"How tall is that guy?" Maya asked, her eyes peeled on the outside of the car. "Probably taller than you."

"Everyone is tall for you since you're so _short_."

She smacked his chest playfully and he smiled. He loved spending time with her. After a few minutes of driving around aimlessly, or more, Maya couldn't tell, Maya spotted something. "Whoa there, Cowboy. Slow down." Lucas pulled into an empty parking place that was thirty minutes or so away from their home. He hadn't actually been to this part of the city and it seemed kind of abandoned. Lucas got the creeps and a chill went up against his arm.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked her, pulling his gear into park.

"No," she said, putting her face up to the window and looking outside. It looked like an abandoned amusement park. Even worse than Lucas thought. "Ooh!" Maya said, unbuckling her seat belt and hopping out of his car lightly. She slightly slipped on the ice but regained her composure as Lucas took his time to get out of his car.

She zipped up her coat took her chin and turned around to smile at Lucas. She looked like a marshmallow.

"This makes me uncomfortable."

"That's the point, you dumb Huckleberry."

She bounded ahead of him without any time to think. Lucas followed behind her like a lost duckling and watched her skip happily. Her mood was such a contrast to what it was on Tuesday. He didn't know what it was, but he enjoyed Maya being happy. It was something he prided himself in being able to do—make her happy.

The front gate wasn't open so they traveled to the back and Maya kicked it open on her third try. Lucas raised an eyebrow at her as she opened the gate tenderly, her porcelain cheeks rosy with the cold. "This is _so_ creepy," she stated, shuffling inside of the abandoned amusement park. "I like it."

"I don't."

"Whatever," he laughed. Maya decided to stay close to Lucas in case anything popped out and scared her to death. She definitely did not plan on dying, today. Lucas could tell Maya was as spooked as he was and he took the opportunity to scare her. He shuffled close to her ear and let out a soft, "Boo."

"AHHH!" Maya screamed, jumping out of her skin and falling over. Lucas laughed at her and she stared up at him angrily with a twitch in her eye. She refused Lucas to help her up and she got up by herself, stumbling a couple of times due to the ice. She elbowed his chest and he laughed again.

"Why do you think this amusement park is abandoned, anyway?"

"Probably because it's winter. Maybe faulty rides, or something."

Lucas grimaced. "That is not reassuring."

Maya and Lucas ambled around the park for awhile, noting the creepy stares the mascots were giving them. Lucas snapped a couple pics of Maya hugging Winnie the Pooh and Maya managed to get a picture of Lucas mid-fall, slipping on black ice. It was all very nice, for them, she thought. Outside of school or her home, or his home. Although the park was creepy and gave Maya the jitters, she liked spending her time with Lucas.

They continued to ponder. Maya stumbled a few times, trying to navigate the dark area so Lucas thought it would be better to hold her hand so she'd stop slipping. It did the trick, and she didn't complain. "This is awesome," Maya muttered, Lucas chuckled at her vocabulary. "Whoo, I get a rush."

"I get the opposite," he said, his hand tightening around hers slightly.

"Come on," she said, tugging him into a different direction. "I'm gonna try to rig something so it'll start working." Lucas was against the idea, but Maya never listened to him anyway. She dragged Lucas to what looked like the carousel and pondered over to a metal contraption which must have turned it on. She let go of his hand to work it and he missed the heat of her mitten. "One of these has got to work," she said absentmindedly, kicking the box.

"You're going to get electrocuted."

"Don't sound too excited," she said back, using her hand to wipe away the hair in her eyes. She hit a red button and waited for a moment or two for the ride to act up. It did nothing and she shrugged. She slapped a green button with her palm and waited again. Nothing.

"It's probably too old to work," he stated, coming over to Maya to look over her shoulder.

She grunted in response and hit another button. No dice. Maya struck the last button. No hope, she thought. Before she could leave, however, the ride lit up with lights and Maya could hear the eerie music coming from an old music box. She smiled and turned to Lucas, who looked a little more than freaked out.

The ride was starting to turn slowly and Maya leaped onto the spinning contraption before Lucas could stop her. He followed her, not before saying, "This is _so_ illegal."

She decided to sit on a horse that was too high for her small stature to reach. Lucas came behind her and hoisted her up. Truthfully, it was quite a sight. While Maya was busying herself with putting on the seat belt so she wouldn't fall off, Lucas found a bench right next to her. The horse wouldn't be comfortable for him—like—at _all_. Plus, while Maya was attempting to strap the seat belt on, he could just... _look_ at her.

She looked like a gigantic marshmallow, her warm winter coat enveloping her whole body and the fuzzy part of the hat reached just above her eyebrows. It was kind of windy so her hair flapped around her face slightly but she smiled nonetheless. He remembered her telling him that Riley had gotten her the coat for Christmas the year prior. Her cheeks were tinted pink and her hands were stuffed into warm mittens, just in case they started to freeze.

If you had told Lucas at the beginning of the school year that he would be spending the majority of his time with Maya Hart and even breaking into abandoned amusement parks with her, he would have submitted you to the psych ward. But now that he was here, with Maya, he couldn't imagine his life being any other way. He wouldn't want it to be any other way. He almost forgot what it was like before he met Maya, probably bland.

Maya decided to unbuckle her horse seat belt and hop down from the rig, despite wobbling for a moment or two due to the height. She found her place next to Lucas on the bench and lied her head on his shoulder, taking a deep breath through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. "You have to admit," she said, her eyes closing slightly, "this is kind of fun."

"It does give me a rush," he responded, "I'm-going-to-totally-die type of rush."

Maya laughed. Lucas loved her laugh, it sounded so sweet and gentle and was totally different to the Maya everyone was used to. Everyone knew what they wanted to about Maya—she was good at art, her dad left, and she kind of sucked at the whole _school_ thing. But Lucas was starting to understand a different side of her, one that surely only Riley had known. He knew Maya Hart for everything she was, the smart girl who never gave herself enough credit, the one who tried too hard to make everyone but herself happy, the one who smiled so much that she might have broken her face. He loved that Maya.

Lucas was enjoying the peace and quiet with Maya, despite the weird music, when he had heard a sound. Maya jolted from her spot, hearing the sound as well. Lucas craned his neck around to find the source. It sounded like someone was shuffling. Lucas stood up quickly and pulled Maya up with his hand. The ride was still going around and Lucas snapped his head again at another sound.

"That wasn't wind," he whispered, turning around and nearly dragging Maya off of the ride and slamming the button to make it come to a stop. The ride's music slowed down creepily and then it sat still as if they had never bothered it. "Did you hear that?" he asked her.

"Someone is _totally_ going to murder us," she whispered back.

"Not funny."

She whipped her head backward as she heard the noise again. Now she was seriously scared. It was either a psycho-murderer or the cops. Both not good things. She grabbed Lucas's head and shoved it down, crawling behind a worn out wooden board that advertised one of the rides. _The Mystery Ride of Love_ it read. Great, Maya thought.

"I love you," she said to him, kind-of, sort-of, slightly joking.

"What?!" he whisper-screamed, peering around the board to look for any source of the noise.

"I just thought those should be my last words!" she whisper-screamed back.

"Now is not the time, Maya!" he whisper-screamed again. Now he was seriously spooked. This was not the way he wanted to go. He was thinking more along the lines of dying at ninety-eight with Maya. That sounded good. But not getting brutally murdered in a weirdo amusement park. "We just _had_ to go here, didn't we?!" he complained.

"Don't look at me, Huckleberry!" she said back, hitting his chest with the back of her hand.

"Are we seriously fighting right before we're about to get murdered?!"

"You're the one who started it!" she yelled back. "Come on, there has to be a way out of here without getting caught."

Another sound made Lucas jump out of his skin. He fell backward and brought Maya with him. She toppled on top of his body and accidentally kneed his groin. He groaned loudly and lied his head back on the hard concrete. "If I'm dying, at least I'm dying with you."

"You're so melodramatic," she whispered. Another noise caused Lucas to turn and topple on top of Maya, his hand clasped on her mouth.

"Stop speaking," he said through his teeth, looking above her head to find the source. Maya got the perfect view of the freckle on his collarbone. Wait, what the fuck?! Why was she thinking about that right before she was about to get brutally murdered?

Before she could process her thoughts, a light shined right in her face. It must have been straight from a flashlight because the light blinded her and she had to blink the spots out of her eyes. She heard a shrilly scream coming from the spot where the flashlight was and it took a moment for Maya's eyes to adjust to the sight.

Jessica-fucking-Wheeler.

Maya knew what this looked like. Lucas was completely on top of her while she was on her back and he had his hand clamped over her mouth. It looked like they were having _sex_!

"Oh dear!" Jessica screamed, dropping the flashlight and bolting away from them. Maya groaned and pushed Lucas off of her who toppled on the ground in a surprised manner.

"Oh shit," he said, as he got up and wiped the dust off of his jeans. Maya didn't even wait for Lucas to get up, she fixed her coat and ran after Jessica in a fit of rage. Jessica would spread their little adventure around the school in no time, no doubt. Lucas quickly followed by, running to capture Jessica before she said anything. Albeit, he was unsuccessful with catching up with Maya because he kept slipping on the ice.

"Jessica!" Maya called, finally seeing her body running away. Maya sped up her legs and finally caught her by the elbow, slipping on ice in the process and letting her and Jessica Wheeler fall into a heap of bodies. This was not good. "Jessica, please, don't run away."

"I just saw you two have sex!" she screeched. "I'm innocent, I'm so young!"

"First of all, _you're_ not even innocent. You write the fucking school newspaper!"

Jessica thought for a moment, sitting on the ice. She didn't dare get back up with the idea of falling again. "That's true," she agreed. "But still, you guys need to mellow down the PDA. There are people in the world other than you!"

"Whoa, there!" Maya said defensively, trying to get up but failing as her boot hit the ice again and she fell backward. She decided to wait for Lucas to help pull her up. "First of all, even if we _were_ having sex, which we _weren't_ , why the fuck would we care about PDA?! We're at an abandoned amusement park!"

"You guys are a couple of _freaks_ ," she said, trying to get up like Maya did a few seconds earlier but falling just as she had. "So you admit having sex in an amusement park?"

"What?!" Maya yelled. "No! I never said that!"

"So you admit it?" she asked again.

"Do you ever shut the fuck up?" she asked her seriously, crawling on the ground to try to get near her but falling on her face. "Ouch," she grunted, feeling her jeans get wet. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. Where was Lucas when she needed him? "Why were you at the amusement park in the first place?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Shut up!" Maya yelled, giving up and falling on her back. "Shut up and answer my question, you Neanderthal! Do you ever _stop_ being vague and ever _shut up_!"

"It was for an article, you crazy artist!" Jessica screamed back, falling on her spine, mirroring Maya. There was no use in getting up with all of the ice on the ground. She would have to wait for Lucas if he wasn't dead from slipping so much. "Why are you spending so much time with Lucas, anyway? He's not your type."

"You don't know my type," Maya grumbled back. "We're not dating," she added in.

"Could have fooled me," she responded, looking at the starless night. "I guess I can see that, though. You two not dating, I mean. He's too attractive for you," she said menacingly, turning her head slightly to look at Maya and sneer at her. If Maya could get up, she would slap Jessica. "And too sweet. He'll pull away eventually, I'd like to think. I mean, that's what happened with your mom, _didn't it_?" she said in such a snooty voice that Maya's eye twitched.

"Shut the fuck up, Jessica."

Jessica smiled and laughed. Her shrill laugh made Maya shiver, it was disgusting, and evil. "Did I hit a sore spot?"

Maya would have responded with something witty but Lucas decided it was a good idea to show his face. He slipped on the ice a couple of times to greet the pair but had a smile on his face, nonetheless. He always had a smile on his face, even if the school's biggest gossip Jessica Wheeler had caught them in a position that looked like they were having sex even though they totally _weren't_.

"There she is," Lucas smiled, leaning over slightly and pulling her up by her armpits. Maya fell forward but Lucas caught her, holding on to her tightly. Maya was shaking, she wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was her cold jeans seeping and shivering her body. Maybe it was the fact that the idea that Lucas was too good for her was starting to clip in her mind. Or maybe it was the sneer Jessica was giving her. She didn't like Jessica, not one bit.

"That—" he breathed through his nose sharply as if he had wandered around for awhile, which was true. "—that wasn't what it looked like. At all. We—we weren't having sex." Maya clung to Lucas's side, afraid that if she let go, he was going to disappear.

"Lucas," Maya grumbled. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," he said, looking down at her and smiling. He rubbed her shoulder for comfort and Maya felt like she could breathe again. Lucas wouldn't leave her, would he? "Listen, Jessica," he said, staring down at her body. "Just mind your own business."

"I can't mind my own business," she stated like it was obvious. "I'm a journalist."

Lucas rolled his eyes and let go of Maya promptly, leaning over to help Jessica up. She slipped and clung on to Lucas's side. The sight made Maya's stomach throw up. "Just get on your way, and please, leave us alone."

Jessica shrugged while she slipped through the amusement park, looking back once to smile at Maya and Lucas. But it wasn't a sincere smile, a smile that made Maya's insides churn. She wanted to throw up. Lucas came back to Maya and held her by the hand, a little tighter than he had before. "Hey," he smiled at her, but his smile quickly turned to a frown when he noticed that she was avoiding his gaze. "Hey, Blondie, what's up? You seem spooked."

She shook her hand away from his. She didn't want to talk to him right now, she totally wasn't in the mood. At _all_. First, she finds out from Riley that her dad has a new family. She didn't know how Riley knew but she didn't really care. Then, Lucas's dad called him and now Jessica Wheeler was dead set on ruining her life. The week wasn't going great at all.

"I guess that's how I am when I think I'm about to get murdered."

"Hey," Lucas said softly, his eyebrows knitting with confusion and concern. "That was totally freaky, but nothing happened, okay? It was just Jessica being her usual, nosy self."

Maya shook her head and refused to look at him in the eyes. "Yeah," she said, forcing out a laugh. "I guess that's just how Jessica is," she stated. The conversation fell short and Maya decided to go back to Lucas's car. She figured she wouldn't be so lucky if the next straggler came and pondered on Lucas and her. It would probably be a cop, or something crazy. She didn't want to stick around and wait.

Once they finally made it to his car, Maya strapped herself in and neglected to say anything to Lucas. She hadn't looked at him for awhile and Lucas was beginning to become uncomfortable. Truth be told, he missed Maya calling him Huckleberry and Cowboy and Potato Johnson. Even if she hadn't talked to him for a few minutes, her silence concerned him. She was never quiet.

He turned the ignition so they could heat up because he saw Maya shivering, despite her big, warm coat. And he wanted to talk to her, even if she didn't talk back. "Listen," he said to her, turning his head to look at her. She didn't look back, but he could tell she was listening with the way she tensed. Her eyes stayed trained on the empty parking lot, he didn't even know what she was looking at. Her head was against the cold window and he could see her tufts of breath. "I don't know why you're acting all weird all of the sudden, but if it's something I did, I'm sorry. Sorry if me clasping your mouth made you uncomfortable, or something. I didn't know."

Her mind shut down. She didn't want Lucas to think it was _his_ fault. Of course it wasn't. She was making everything worse than it needed to be, she wasn't good enough for him. It kept playing through her mind like a mantra. Damn Jessica Wheeler. "Nothing," Maya promised. She refused to look at him, still. "It wasn't anything you did."

"Was it Jessica?" Maya didn't respond and Lucas took that as a yes. "What did she say?"

"Nothing important," she said back.

"If it's bugging you that bad then _obviously_ it's important," he muttered, grabbing her bicep and turning her body so she could look at him. She never thought, never in a million years, that she would have been so bugged by what Jessica said. But it struck right where she didn't want it to. And it made sense, at least in her mind.

"Lucas, let it go, please."

"No," he said, his eyebrows furrowing. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

Maya's mind kept pondering back to when she said she loved him when she thought she was going to die. Granted, she didn't really think she was going to die and the _I love you_ was more of a joke than anything else but her cheeks heated up quickly with the thought. She had to be slightly serious when she said that. It put her mind into overdrive and she couldn't think anymore.

"Tell me," he told her again. He seriously couldn't let anything go.

"I told you," she said, this time turning around to look at him in the eyes. That was a mistake. His eyes made her drown and it was so easy to open up to him, especially with his face that was pouting and begging her to. This wouldn't be easy, nor would it be a long fight "Leave it alone."

"What did she say to you?"

She finally cracked. "It's all very dumb. I don't know, it just kind of bugged me. It's stupid, I'm sorry. She—she," she stopped for a moment. "She said you're too good for me, or something. I don't know. I guess it's true. Like, who would hang out with me?" She laughed sadly and Lucas felt his heart tug against his rib cage. "I—I don't know. She said something about my mom. I mean, it does bring up the question. Why are you wasting your time with me, anyway?"

Lucas frowned. Was she serious? He couldn't tell, she wasn't serious a lot of the time. But with the way her lip quivered and how she was starting to pick at her nails, he figured she was serious. He didn't understand why she would be stressed out about something like that. If anything, _she_ was too good for him. Lucas felt something brew at the bottom of his stomach, something he could place as anger.

It wasn't right for Jessica to go around and telling people who should date and who shouldn't—they weren't even dating, _no_. She had no right to tell him who he could hang out with. That was wrong. And the quip about her mother, too? That was twenty types of nasty.

"Hey," he said softly, grabbing her hand. He didn't do much else because she clearly didn't want to look at him in the eyes. "I don't know what Jessica's problem is, but she must have a big one if she thinks she can decide who I want to hang out with and who is good enough for me. Who cares what she thinks? Screw her."

"You're like—" she said, choking on her words. She didn't know what to say to him, she was confused, but she continued, anyway. "You're like, this jock. Or whatever. You have _so_ many friends, and then there's _me_. I'm like this weird oddball who just follows what her friends do. And you're sweet, and I'm _not_. I'm so mean to you? I don't know how you put up with me? It's amazing. That takes skill."

"Whoa there, jitterbug," Lucas said, removing his hand from hers and placing it on her cheek. It was a soft gesture and her stomach exploded in butterflies. He tilted her head slightly so she'd look up at him. The car was still running and Maya's thoughts wandered to the pollution they were totally causing but then her mind snapped back to Lucas and how the car was very heated, due to their proximity and the car heater. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to kiss him. "Let's forget all of that dumb high school stuff," he told her. She leaned her head into his hand, he felt soft. "And let's forget the fact that we met because of Riley. And you're not mean to me, I enjoy it when you call me nicknames. I find it endearing."

She laughed. He missed her laugh.

"Also," he continued. "Who cares about my friends? I mean, I have the oddest friends ever! There's Farkle, you and I both know he listens to Mozart rap. It doesn't matter what other people think of us," he said to her and tilted his head slightly and smiled. "Remember? The Lucas-Maya-Riley-Zay-Farkle-and-his-super-genius-girlfriend bubble?"

Maya laughed at him. He always had a way to make her feel better, it was "You're right," she said finally, nodding her head.

Lucas stayed still. His hand was still on her face and she smelled like lemon. She had taken off her coat from her face so her wild blonde hair was splayed everywhere, kind of static because of the fur on the hood of the coat. Her hair hit her cheeks and slightly touched his hand and Lucas wanted to lean over and kiss her.

He didn't care about the center console. His mind was racing a million miles an hour and his heart was beating out of his chest. He could see her leaning in ever so slightly and the way her hand was connected with his on her face. He moved his thumb an inch or so to push away the hair out of her face. She was flushed with color, he could tell. Their faces were so close, they were breathing the same air. He could hear her heartbeat, pounding against her chest wildly. Or was it his?

Another second and their lips would connect. Another second and his brain would turn to mush. Another second and—

Maya's phone dinged loudly and Maya's hands found themselves on Lucas's chest, pushing him back. Her body sprung backward and hit the glass on the window with a loud thud. Her cheeks were as red as a tomato and she was breathing loudly. They were _this_ close to kissing. A millisecond away from connecting lips and her phone rang. She didn't know if that was good or bad luck.

Lucas's face was surprised, as if he hadn't known what he was doing when he was about to kiss Maya. His mind flooded with ideas and thoughts and his brain kept repeating one thing: _you almost kissed Maya you almost kissed Maya you almost kissed Maya you almost kissed Maya_. Holy shit! He almost kissed Maya.

They stayed like that for awhile, both persons on either end of the car, breathing deeply. Maya felt like she had run a marathon and Lucas's heart wouldn't stop beating. His hands were tingly and he could still feel her breath on his lips. "Your—your phone," he said, swallowing thickly.

"What?" Maya asked, clearly confused. "Oh, right!" she said, shaking her head as if she were ridding of her thoughts. "My—my phone," she stuttered, filing through her coat pocket to find her phone. The screen lit up with Riley's text.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 8:34 PM  
seen: 8:36 PM  
**Are you still with Lucas? I was wondering if you wanted to have a sleepover.

Maya breathed loudly and huffed the hair out of her face. Of course. Riley, who had gushed about Maya and Lucas dating for as long as she could remember was the ultimate cock blocker. Maya's mind was racing with _what could have been_. He would have kissed her, soft and tender. She would have grabbed his face with her other hand and she would have scooted over the center console so she could kiss him better. It was making it difficult for Maya to think and to type.

 **from: PEACHES! :*  
** **sent: 8:37 PM  
seen: 8:37 PM  
**uh... yeah. imm still wtih Lucas. ill tell him to drop by ur place

She sent it before she could even proofread it. Her heart was still beating heavily and her eyes were as wide as saucers. She didn't know what to say to Lucas, or to Riley. She didn't even know what to think.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 8:37 PM  
seen: 8:38 PM  
**Okay, sounds good! See you in a few minutes! Love you, Peaches! :)

Maya shut off her phone and shoved it back in her coat pocket, her neck as red as the sun. She couldn't think properly, her mind was wary and her breaths were solid and large. She needed to go to Riley and vent. Something was about to happen and she didn't know what was going to come out of it.

"Can—can you drop me off at Riley's?"

Lucas didn't respond for a moment as well. His ears were tipped pink and he refused to talk, or at least he tried to and all that came out were jumbles. They didn't even kiss! How big of a mess would Lucas be when they actually kissed! "Y—yeah. Riley's."

Lucas took his gear out of park and put it into drive, speeding out of the parking lot faster than he had ever driven. Maya clicked the radio to consume the silence that ensued in the car. She was too lost in her thoughts to even listen to the words of the song. Nothing mattered to her at that moment. She could have died in a car crash and she still wouldn't understand what was happening.

Lucas pulled up to her apartment complex and nudged Maya's shoulder slightly to indicate that she was there. She didn't have any clothes or even a toothbrush. It didn't matter, though. She just needed to talk to someone. She turned around slightly to look at Lucas who was still stained pink. She smiled at him, not a full smile with teeth, but a cheeky smile that brought a little light to her eyes. He loved that smile.

She bounded out of the car without saying goodbye. He could see that she was shaking with every step. Lucas had no idea what was going through her mind, but he knew what was going through his. _You almost kissed Maya_!

Maya knocked twice on her best friend's door and Riley opened the door with a wild smile, already dressed from head to toe in her footie pajamas. Maya could see behind her that she had set up a movie night for her and her best friend. A slew of stuffed animals lied on her couch and she already had a bowl of popcorn sitting on the coffee table. Maya almost smiled.

But then she remembered.

"Hey," she asked, "where's your stuff?"

Maya couldn't keep it in any longer. "Lucas almost kissed me."

Riley lost her balance. "WHAT?!"

* * *

 **hahahah! i just wanted you all to know that i appreciate every single one of you that reviews me! it really brightens my day**

 **thoughts and concerns! review and fave**


	10. week 10

**SUPER LONG CHAPTER! also, i dont know how to ride a fucking horse**

* * *

 **objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
_ _ **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**_ _  
_ _ **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**_ _  
_ _ **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**_ _  
_ _ **7\. get creative! paint fight**_ _  
_ _ **8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!**_ _  
_ _ **9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't**_ _  
 **10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours**  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _ **December 4th - December 10th**_

 **December 3rd**

Riley swung the door open, greeting her best friend with a huge smile. She had this night planned to a tee, first they'd watch the notebook and then they'd watch Love Actually (because, _duh_! Christmas!) and then they'd make a fort and die due to eating so much popcorn. It sounded perfect. But when she looked at Maya's frazzled expression, she could tell something was up. Also, she didn't have any of her sleepover essentials, like chocolate. "Hey," she asked, "where's your stuff?"

Maya held her breath. Her cheeks were tinted pink either from holding her breath for too long or the cold. Riley assumed it was both. Her words came out slewed and messy. "Lucas almost kissed me."

Riley tripped over her foot in surprise, holding onto the door-frame for balance. "WHAT?!" She could tell by Maya's expression that she was far from joking. Riley tripped again, completely falling to the floor. Her elbows lied on her knees and she held her face in her hands. She didn't know how to process anything. What had happened? Why the word _almost_?

"Riley!" Maya said, grabbing Riley by the elbow and pulling her up. Maya shut the door with her foot, a soft sound resonating through the empty apartment. Her mom was on a work retreat and her dad was having a sleepover with Shawn while Auggie was at a friends house for the night. Riley kept tripping on her feet but her mind was confused. What happened? Maya ripped off her coat and heatedly threw it toward the window located in the back of her living room. It lied there in a crumpled mess.

"WHAT?!" Riley said again, stumbling over to the couch and falling over in a heap of pajamas and flesh. This was a mess.

"Lucas almost kissed me!" Maya screamed at her. "He was _this_ close to my face!" she said, indicating with her fingers how close they were. She moved Riley's feet and sat down next to her, craning her neck to look at the light above her. Maya's heart was still beating wildly in her chest. She was a millimeter from his face. A _millimeter_.

"What stopped you?!"

"You, you dumbass!" Maya yelled, throwing her hands to her face and rubbed her temples. She had a headache. She wanted to pass out and sleep everything off. Her mind was running faster than she could think. "You texted me _right_ when he was about to press his lips against mine. I don't know if that was a blessing or a curse."

"Are you _serious_?!" Riley asked, sitting up and rubbing her hands all over her face. "Did I seriously cock block you? What the fuck?!"

"Oh man," Maya said seriously, falling on top of Riley so that they both lied on the couch. She cuddled into her side. Maya's mind was on overdrive. "I need a nap. I need to sleep for a year."

/

 **December 5th**

Maya tapped at her phone uselessly as she sat in the seat next to Riley on the way to school. "That took Jessica no less than two days to spread this around the whole state of New York. With my luck, I'll be world viral by the end of the week. Exponentially speaking, anyway."

Riley laughed under her breath and turned on her blinker to make a right. "I'm glad you're paying attention in math, at least. And hey, stop freaking out. Who knows what's going around in the rumor mill. You should be worried about your Calc test instead of what people think about you."

Maya grunted and tapped through her twitter feed, which was full to the brim of tweets about her and Lucas. It was rather convenient that no one thought to ask her what had really happened. "I can't help it," she grumbled, squinting her eyes to adjust to the light of her phone. "Lucas and I haven't talked since we almost kissed and I'm too afraid to approach him, to be honest. He probably pulled away because I smelled like sardines or something."

" _You_ pushed him away because I texted you. You're thinking about this way too much. Just talk to him about it."

"I don't _want_ to!" she whined, rubbing her temple with her fingers. This conversation was giving her a headache. "Okay but look at these tweets," she said, reading the tweets out loud to Riley.

 **Jessica_Wheeler  
** **time: 8:24 PM, Dec 3  
** _totally just ran into lucas friar and maya hart having SEX! i guess it's official. #LUCAYA!_

 **zaybabz  
time: 8:26** **PM, Dec 3**  
 _at Jessica_Wheeler: WHAT?! i totally saw this coming._

 **SmackleIQ  
time: 6:32 AM, Dec 4**  
 _Just woke up. Saw my timeline. Better inform Farkle on this "Lucaya" nonsense._

 **devdelong10  
time: 1:00 PM, Dec 4  
** _just woke up. dammit. wanted to have a taste of that maya treat._

"Maya treat?" Maya asked herself under her breath. "I met Devin once when I was watching Lucas at one of his games. He's such a pig."

Riley grumbled under her breath and yanked Maya's phone away from her hand and threw it in the back of the car. "Shut up about the tweets, won't you? Who cares what a few people say about you? The only person's opinion that matters is Lucas's. And mine, of course."

Maya laughed under her breath. Riley always seemed to have a way to make her feel better, even if it was slightly unconventional. "You're right," Maya said, contorting her body to grab her phone from the back. She decided to turn her phone off to ward off her temptations. And, if Lucas texted her. She intended on avoiding him as long as possible.

Riley pulled into the school parking lot, setting her gear into park once she found a decent spot. She checked her makeup in her mirror for a moment before sighing with relief and yanking her keys from her ignition. She hopped out of the car and told Maya she would see her later that day. She had to talk to the Principal about some community service project she was in charge of before school.

It was a little nerve-wracking walking into school with everyone knowing that she had _totally_ hooked up with Lucas, at least according to Jessica. Maya didn't know why she was so worried about everyone's opinions, probably something about how her father hated her, which made her super self-conscious. Nevertheless, Maya wanted to walk into school with her normal confident stride. Who cared if Jessica milled around stupid rumors? They weren't true, that's for sure.

She threw her backpack over her shoulder and hopped out of the car, locking it _just_ to make sure. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, bracing herself to step through the glass doors of her high school.

Maya was invisible, only for a moment, but that was until a girl saw her face and pointed to her. All heads turned toward her direction and Maya's cheeks became flustered. She needed to ignore them. She really wanted to talk to Lucas, but then again, she didn't. She was stuck in a loop. Maya nervously wracked for her phone in her hand and turned it on, swiping left and putting in her pass code; 74539 for RILEY. Her thumb twitched on twitter and her timeline flooded with tweets pertaining to her and Lucas.

 **bailey102554  
time: 7:16 AM, Dec 5  
** _just saw maya. where is her piece of man meat?_

 **carterkeaton  
time: 7:16 AM, Dec 5  
** _LMFAO? what is maya wearing? is she trying to attract all the boys? boobage!_

 **CoolKidBrandon  
time: 7:17 AM, Dec 5  
** _maya the slut. LOL. tries to get with every guy in skool! LMFAO_

Maya swallowed sharply and ignored the fact he managed to spell school wrong. He called her _slut_? Even if she had slept with Lucas, which she hadn't, it was _none_ of their business whether she did or not and the total double standard of her and Lucas was obnoxious. She didn't see any tweets toward Lucas calling him a slut. Her attention was quickly snapped away from herself when she got a ringing text message from her phone. The deep _ding_! resonated in her ears before she could process what was happening. She felt like she was from the Scarlet Letter.

 **from: huckleberry  
** **sent: 7:18 AM  
seen: 7:19 AM  
**Meet me in your art room. Emergency.

Maya thanked god for the distraction and quickly set her feet down the art hall. Granted, the distraction was Lucas and he wasn't on the top of her list of people to interact with right now, but he pretty much reigned ahead of every other person in the student body. Plus, she'd rather be in the sanctuary of her art room than in the hall following the death stares of her fellow peers.

She quickly ambled down the art hall, which, the farther down you went, the less populated it became. Plus, her school was starting in ten minutes and no one wanted to be late. Well, besides Lucas and Maya, of course.

Maya twisted the handle sharply and filed her way into the room, shutting the door behind her and locking it. She didn't want anyone ambling in and assuming something else about her and Lucas.

She almost forgot Lucas was there for a second until he called her name.

"Maya," he said to her.

Maya jumped in her own skin and turned around to look at him. Of course, he looked as fine as ever. His arms were bulging through his shirt and he had a streak of wet paint on his cheek. God knows how he got it there, but his light smile always managed to make Maya's stomach erupt in butterflies.

But then there was the thing she hated most: confrontation.

"Hey," she said, swallowing the vomit from erupting from her throat. It would not be a pretty sight.

"I—uh—" he stopped for a minute. "—I saw those tweets on my timeline. The slut shaming ones. Are you alright?"

Maya nodded stiffly. "Y—yeah—uh, I think I'm alright," she responded. "Just a lot to take in. Sucks when people assume."

Lucas nodded back. The awkward tension was too much for him to bear. "Do you—do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Um—the tweets? Or the—uh—uh—" he paused. He was at a loss for words. "I mean—the almost kiss?"

Maya stopped breathing. She was clearly hoping that he had forgotten about it, but that was a long shot. She sucked and hated confrontation. "Um—no. I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh," Lucas mumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Are you—sure? Did I do anything that made you uncomfortable?"

"No—Lucas," Maya stopped him from rambling. "I just—I don't think it's important. Not something that we should waste our time talking about."

That stung Lucas, but he sucked in the blow. He kind of expected this, though him and Maya were _pretty_ damn close to kissing and she seemed pretty flustered at the moment. His mind kept replaying what it would be like if Riley hadn't interrupted their kiss. She'd grab his collar and pull him closer. He'd lean over the center console and deepen the kiss. His brain would blow.

"You're right," Lucas responded. "It was nothing. Nothing—um, important, anyway."

Ouch.

Maya shoved the insult out of her brain and shook her head. "You said it was an emergency? What's up?"

"Oh!" Lucas said, running his fingers over his temple. "You're right, uh..." he trailed off for a second, shaking his head like a dog as if to rid all of his thoughts. "I wanted to ask you something. Listen, I know it's a big thing to ask but—um—something went down and I'd be a whole lot more comfortable if you were there with me, and I just—"

"Lucas," Maya said, stepping forward subconsciously and putting a hand on his bicep. With her touch, his body seemed to cool. She turned into an anchor in his life. "It's okay, just tell me."

"Would you like to go to Texas with me over the weekend?"

Maya's eyes bugged from her head. "Sorry—what?"

Lucas chuckled nervously. "I—I always talked about bringing you to Texas, you know? I want to show you around and—um—on top of that—uh, my dad contacted me again."

Maya swallowed back the throw-up in her throat. She hated Lucas's dad just as much she hated hers. "Are you—are you okay?"

Lucas nodded stiffly. He was clearly uncomfortable with the thought of his rapist father contacting him again. "It sucks. I told my mom this time, anyway. It was on Sunday, yesterday, I mean. I think—I think she has a case of Stockholm syndrome or something because she insisted that I meet him to 'mend' our relationship." Lucas fought the urge to cry. He would _not_ cry in front of Maya, and about his father, nonetheless. "Anyway, she bought the tickets yesterday on the spot. One for me and one for her, but I begged her not to go. She finally relented but she said I had to take someone with me."

"Oh my— _god_ ," Maya finally said after a moment. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"Things were—uh—kind of weird with us then. I didn't want to bother you."

The awkward air suddenly deflated between the two and Maya could finally breathe again. Even if they weren't going to talk about the _almost-kiss_ right then, he was still Lucas and she was still Maya. Even if things were awkward, they always managed to talk to each other.

Maya nodded her head without a second thought. Of course she would go with him. "Yeah," she said, her voice slightly hoarse. "Of course I'll go with you, Lucas. I just need to talk with my counselor and my mom and I'm sure I'll be able to go."

/

 **December 8th**

Maya finished packing her suitcase and threw it in the back of Lucas's car. He had already bought her a plane ticket and all of the expenses were on him. To be quite honest, the trip was very nerve-wracking for Maya. Things had been a little tense between her and Lucas the past few days, especially with his reveal that he had told her on the fifth. It's not like she couldn't say no to him, anyhow. Besides, she didn't want to say no. She was looking forward to spending a whole weekend vacation with him, even if she was missing two days of school.

"Ready?" he asked her, shutting the trunk and hopping over to her side of the car to open the door for her. Maya hopped in the car, grabbing the door for stability and popping into her seat. She grabbed her seat belt and wrapped it around her torso. As soon as Lucas hit the ignition, her eyes drooped to sleep. It was early in the morning because Lucas wanted to optimize all of the days he was with her. Plus, the ride to JFK was about a forty-five minute drive. She could definitely get a good nap between then. That didn't include all of the time they would have to wait for their plane and all of the delays.

/

It was around noon when their plane landed at the Dallas airport. Lucas rented a car from the airport and was already set on driving the three hours to Austin while Maya slept. However, Maya had different plans. She had slept on the way to JFK and the on plane, as well as waiting for the delayed plane. Her and Lucas hadn't really had a chance to talk. "Hey—uh—Lucas? Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, turning around to look at her while his hand was still on the door of the car. "What's up?"

"Listen, I know this is totally weird of me to ask, but just hear me out. I never learned to drive in New York because of traffic and subways and cabs and taxis and all of that, and I'd really like if you—um—taught me. How to drive, I mean."

Lucas smiled widely at her. "Of course," he laughed. "Let me just pull out of this busy airport area and into somewhere more rural so it's safer. I'll teach you to drive then."

Maya nodded her head happily and bounced into the car, her feet pumping on the floor with excitement. It took Lucas about an hour to finally get out of the city and into a more rural part of the state. They had a whole two hours left until they'd be in Austin, so Lucas thought it was a good idea to let her drive. He pulled off to the side of a dirt road and pulled the car into park. "Okay," he said, "I think this is a good spot."

"Ooh!" Maya said excitedly, bouncing out of the car before Lucas could even blink. She hopped over to his side and threw the door open, nearly pulling him out of the seat and hopping in herself. She had to pull the chair a few inches (or feet) to make her parallel to the wheel. Lucas was so _damn_ tall! She strapped on her seat belt and tapped her fingers on the wheel impatiently while she waited for Lucas to amble around the car.

Once Lucas was strapped in safely and the passenger seat was moved back for his legs, he told Maya to put her foot down on the brake. "No," he said quickly. "It's the big one, not the small one. You're going to crash, that's the gas pedal." Maya quickly switched her foot so it slammed on the brake pedal. "Okay, now turn on the ignition."

Maya did just so and the car sprung to life. Her foot was still pressed against the brake pedal. Lucas turned the gear to drive and Maya froze in her seat. "Now what?" she said, her cheeks heating up.

"Remove your foot from the brake, you're going nowhere." Maya lifted it cautiously and felt the car move forward ever so slightly. Her body freaked and slammed her foot into what she thought was the brake pedal, but turned out to be the gas pedal. The car jerked forward and Maya screamed loudly, switching her foot so it slammed the brake pedal.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, her fingers tightening around the wheel.

"Whoa there, Maya!" Lucas yelped, grabbing the gear and yanking it to park before she could do any more damage. It was a good thing they were on a rural dirt road, she couldn't hurt anyone—besides themselves. Maya's foot stayed slammed on the brake pedal despite the fact that they were parked. Her face was chalk white and her fingers were curled tightly around the wheel. "You okay there, jitterbug?"

"I don't want to drive anymore," she gulped.

"No, no, no," Lucas relented, reaching his hand over to touch hers. Maya's body stiffed at the heat of the contact and she began to feel her blood rush to her head. She needed to calm down before she did something crazy, like driving into that field of cows or leaning over the console and making out with Lucas. She began to breathe deeply as she attempted to calm herself. "Hey, it's okay," he reassured her, her eyes still shut from the attempt to calm herself down. She didn't know how Lucas drove, much less in New York. "Listen, I was exactly like you when I was first learning to drive, and that was in New York. You just need to calm down and listen to me, okay?"

It took her a moment to open her eyes and turn her head to look at him. His face was etched with concern, but he had a bright smile on his face. A rush went through her stomach. "Okay," she finally said. "One more time." Maya's foot was still on the brake pedal but she eased on it so she wasn't completely slamming it on the ground. Her hand lied on the gear for a moment, her body shook. Lucas's hand found his on top of hers and helped her move the gear into drive. She slowly eased her foot off of the brake and felt the car move slightly forward.

For a few minutes, the car was going so slow, Lucas could imagine a turtle beating them in a race. That is until Maya decided to slowly tap her foot on the gas pedal. The car lurched forward slightly with the sudden pressure. Her foot yanked off and the car continued to move slowly. It took one more try for Maya to completely let her foot stay on the gas. It took a few minutes for her to get comfortable, as she slowly put on more pressure to make the car go faster. Her hands were tight around the wheel but Lucas could see a small smile.

Once Maya became more comfortable with the prospect of driving a moving vehicle, the minivan reached its peak at 65 miles per hour. Granted, she was in a soccer mom car and they were on an abandoned dirt road, but she had never felt more exhilarated in her life. The runner-up was definitely that time Lucas fell on top of her at that abandoned amusement park.

An hour and thirty minutes later, Lucas and Maya switched spots so Lucas could drive into the city (she wasn't exactly comfortable driving around any other cars). It took fifteen minutes for Lucas to find his way to the city (with a little help from Siri, of course). Maya's eyes caught interest immediately to the surrounding glittering skyscrapers. This wasn't what she imagined Austin, Texas to be like at all. She imagined tumbleweed ambling down the road. She imagined cows nipping at her window and dead trees in the middle of the desert. She didn't imagine glistening towers and jumbles of people.

"This is a lot more like New York than I thought," she said.

"Yeah," Lucas said in a deep southern accent. Maya furrowed her brows and waved her hands across his eyes.

"You there, good ol' Bucky?"

He coughed and cleared his voice, "Yeah," he said, his normal voice back again. "I guess this place gave me a sense of nostalgia. My roots are here, you know?"

"No, not really," she admitted. "I've always been a New York girl. Never been outside of New York or Jersey. Couldn't afford it, this is wild. And not just because this is the Wild West."

"Ha-Ha," Lucas said in a monotone voice, tilting his head slightly to look over at Maya and smiled. Her face was mushed against the glass of the minivan's window, her eyes filled with wonder.

Maya's phone dinged in her pocket and she fished it out with her hand, removing her head from the glass.

 **from: pumpkin?  
** **sent: 4:01 PM  
seen: 4:01 PM  
**[ _image attached below_ ]

 **Riley's List of Things to Do and Take Pictures of**

1\. cow tipping  
2\. steal a bottle of vodka and get drunk  
3\. look for four-leafed clovers  
4\. ride a horse  
5\. stargaze  
6\. play at a park  
7\. snipe hunting  
8\. drive-in movie  
9\. skipping rocks  
10\. kiss  
(you must take a picture of everything! doesn't have to be in that order)

Maya read the list out loud to Lucas, her breath faltering on the last word. "—uh, kiss. That's the last one."

Lucas seemed amazingly unfazed of the revelation that they would be due to kiss at midnight. Perhaps his mind nearly ignored the last part of the list. "Huh," he muttered, rubbing his eyebrows as he turned left to go on another street. "How are we going to do all of that in one day?"

"We could make a list of what seems easiest to first, and in the morning, and then we could have certain time restraints since we'll be very busy."

Lucas laughed. "I didn't know you were this organized."

"Side effect of being with you for so long."

/

Lucas pulled up to the pretty hotel that was gleaming with lights. Maya wasn't quite sure she had seen anything as fancy as the hotel Lucas had pulled up to. She was afraid she would make the bed dirty or something. Lucas parked at the front doors and hopped out, running around the car to open the door for Maya. She skipped out and grabbed her suitcase from the backseat. Lucas grabbed his suitcase as well and handed his keys to a chauffeur. Lucas smiled and said thank you, and the chauffeur bowed appreciatively.

"Zoo wee," Maya muttered. "This place looks awfully expensive."

"Don't worry about it," Lucas insisted, his face suddenly turning stoic. "Frank made the reservations. We're due to meet him Sunday. He's coming out from his ranch, or something. I mean, it's a nice hotel. I couldn't pass up the offer, even if it was from my rapist father," Lucas chuckled sadly.

Maya grimaced. "Ermf, okay. Let's just go inside and settle in."

Lucas nodded and shook his head as if he were clearing all of his thoughts about his father away. They made their way up to the front desk and checked in.

"Lucas Friar?" the woman said behind the counter, her accent deep and full of velvet. Lucas nodded in response. "Y'all've got...um...a suite on floor five. Um, one king sized bed, one kitchen, and one bathroom."

"Whoa, wait," Lucas said, clearly confused. "I thought two beds were ordered?"

The lady, named Marge, looked back at the computer on her desk and shook her head. "No, clearly says one king sized bed. Would you lot like me to change it? It'd cost an extra two hun'."

"Lucas, it's okay, we can sleep in the same bed. Stop acting like a pansy."

Lucas clenched his teeth and grabbed the key from the desk. "No, it's alright." He took Maya's left hand in his right hand subconsciously and led her to the elevator.

/

 **December 9th**

Maya awoke to Lucas's arm draped around her. "Grff," she grunted, kicking off his hand with her foot. He grunted and turned over, successfully falling off the bed.

"Ouch," she heard him say from the floor.

"Wake up stupid. You need your energy for today."

"Then I should probably go back to sleep."

Maya laughed and scooted her body over to peer at Lucas on the floor. "How the turns have tabled."

"It's how the tables have turned, but okay," he muttered, using his hands to get himself off of the floor. Maya noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt whatsoever. She could feel her lips begin to drool and her eyes ogle his body but she closed her eyes tightly to avert his gaze away from her. "I'll make pancakes and fruit. Can you check my phone for me and see if my—Frank, I mean—has texted me when he's coming?"

"Yeah," Maya said nonchalantly, twisting her body to reach over and grab his phone on the bedside table. "What's the pass?"

"Zero-one-one-two," he responded.

Maya put the password in and saw the phone unlock. "Is that my birthday?" she asked back.

"May-be," he responded.

Maya fought hard to hide the blush creeping up on her cheeks. She distracted herself by going through Lucas's recent text history.

 **from: Frank AKA the Worst Person in the Whole Fucking World  
** **sent: 6:46 AM  
seen: 7:48 AM  
**See you on Sunday at 12.

Maya was about to pipe up the time to Lucas when her eyes caught the text below it.

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 9:42 PM, Thursday  
seen: unread  
**Shut it, Zay! She doesn't need to know Jack Shit from you!

Her finger hovered over the text, her thumb trembling. Was it wrong to peep through his texts? Yes. Was that going to stop her? No.

Her thumb clicked on the text before she could stop herself. She only had time to read the previous text, which was from Zay, when Lucas interrupted her.

 **from: Zay Babby  
** **sent: 9:40 PM  
seen: 9:42 PM  
**oh, shut it! you lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvve Maya

"What'd he say?" Lucas asked from over the stove.

Maya screeched loudly and threw the phone up in the air in surprise. Luckily, it fell softly back onto the pillow. Lucas looked at her curiously and she chuckled. "Sorry, I spaced for a bit. Ermf, hold on." She scrolled up slightly and clicked on the conversation to see what he had said again. She forgot since she was too distracted with snooping in Lucas's personal stuff. "He said, 'See you on Sunday at 12.'."

Lucas put three chocolate pancakes on one plate for Maya and two raspberry pancakes for himself on another. He also paired Maya with some strawberries and bananas. "There you go," he said, handing Maya the plate.

Maya scarfed down her food in record time and smiled at Lucas cheekily, unaware of the maple syrup at the tip of her lips.

Lucas neglected to tell her.

/

 **December 10th**

The previous day was spent at the pool at the hotel and the hot tub, mostly seeing who could do the most impressive cannonball. At one point, they even got kicked out for making such a disruption so instead, they wandered around the hotel's candy store. Lucas bought Maya a bouquet of candy roses.

At approximately 6:30, Maya's alarm went off. She lied in bed for a good fifteen minutes while Lucas proceeded to make her an omelet. She then kicked herself out of bed and lied on the floor for another five. Once she finally got the motivation to get up, she sat with Lucas at the kitchen table, eating her omelet solemnly.

"What's with the sour face, glum?" he asked her, reaching over the table to wipe a hair from her face. Maya barely noticed the action at this point, she was so used to Lucas touching her it seemed almost natural.

"Nothing, I'm just not a morning person," she grumbled, stabbing her omelet with her fork. "Anyway," she said, "I rearranged the list for what would be the best to do in a certain order. Considering we finish getting ready at 7:15 and leave at 7:20, we could be out of the city by 8:10. Our first destination takes another twenty minutes to get to so we should be able to start by 8:30."

"What's the order?" he asked her after munching down a piece of his banana.

"Four-leafed clovers at 8:30 until 9:30. By the field of four leaf clovers is a lake, but it's a ten minute drive there. So we'd do skipping rocks from 9:45 to 10:30. Afterwards, we'll drive thirty minutes to this farm I found that offers free horseback riding lessons. Sounds sketchy, but I don't care. So horseback riding from 11:00 until 12:30. After we go horseback riding, we'll drive back into a small town that's thirty minutes away and we'll eat lunch from 1:00 to 1:45. In the small town there's a park where we can go on the swings and stuff, so that would be from 2:00-ish until 2:30. About five minutes out from the park is a ranch, so we'll go cow tipping from 2:45 until 3:45. That small town luckily has a drive-in movie theater, which we'll be attending from 4:30 until 6:30. After the movie, we'll go back into town and have dinner from 6:45 until 7:30. At 7:45 we'll go out into the less-populated part of the town and go snipe hunting. That will be from 7:45 until 8:30. After we're done snipe hunting, we'll stargaze from 8:30 until 9:00. We'll drive home back into the city which will take about an hour and we'll be home at 10:00. You can buy a bottle of vodka from the bar down in the hotel lobby because you look older than twenty-one. The next is up to how fast we get drunk, because then we'll kiss. It'll be easier if we're drunk."

"Wow," Lucas said, clearly surprised by how well organized Maya was. "That sounds great. I'll pack snacks and we'll leave as soon as we can."

/

 _-_ _Four-leafed Clovers_

They pulled out of the hotel building at approximately 7:19 AM and arrived at the field of clovers right on schedule. Lucas pulled his gear into park and looked through Maya's window to peer at the large field.

"Ooh!" Maya said jumpily, hopping out of the car with excitement and slamming the minivan door behind her. Lucas soon followed suit and met by Maya's right side. Their hands were almost touching.

"Well, this certainly looks interesting," Lucas noted, peering down at the ground to see if he could spot any four-leafed clovers.

"Ooh," Maya muttered, leaning down slightly and plucking up a clover. She handed it to Lucas so he could look at it. "That was quick. I suppose we should head home now."

Lucas's hands weren't as steady as Maya had hoped and in the process of peering at the four-leafed clover that she had handed him, his hands shook and the clover fell back into the sea of green. "Shit."

"Goddammit, Lucas!" Maya yelled, slapping his shoulder with the back of her hand. "Look at what you've done! Now we're going to have the spend the rest of our time looking for another four-leafed clover because of your stupid mistake!"

Lucas stifled a laugh from Maya and smiled at her. "Sorry," he grunted, looking at her apologetically with sympathetic eyes. She wasn't buying it. "Listen, how about you start on this end of the field and I'll start on the other end of the field; it'll be easier to cover more ground that way."

"Ugh," Maya grumbled through her teeth, grunting as she walked a few feet to what seemed like the edge of the clover field. Lucas laughed as she kneeled forward slightly and inspected each clover closely to see if it had quadruple petals. She looked back at Lucas for a moment and scowled at him harshly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. "Go look for a goddamn clover, Lucas, before I beat your ass black and blue."

Lucas suppressed his smile and jogged over to the other side of the field. The two scavenged through the field slowly as they searched for a four-leafed clover, with little to no success.

Forty-five minutes in, Maya grunted loudly and fell back into the field of clovers, sighing loudly as she eyed the clouds in the sky. "I'm done, this is over with. I'll never find a clover."

Lucas eventually relented and jogged over to Maya, joining her plush body on the ground. Their heads connected, giving Lucas a flashback of week three when they were stargazing, but instead, cloud-gazing. Lucas decided there was no point in looking for a clover when the only clover they had found was lost.

"See that cloud there?" Maya asked him, pointing up to the sky at a cumulonimbus. "Looks like a four-leafed clover. Damn, if somebody didn't lose our original one."

"Ha-ha," Lucas laughed sardonically, grabbing her hand to point her finger at another cloud. "Look at that one. Looks like me not giving a fuck."

"Ha-ha," Maya responded. "I actually think you look good there," she said and smiled. "If you squint your eyes and you're blind."

Lucas turned his body over so he was lying on his stomach. His hands were holding his head and his elbows were digging deep into the mud. He didn't mind, though. He had a good view of Maya's sculptured face from this angle, the way her chin jutted softly and the way her nose flared when she was annoyed. He adored her. His attention faltered for a moment and his eye caught something. A four-leafed something.

"Maya, I think I've just found a four-leafed clover!" he yelled, picking it up with his thumb and tucking it in Maya's hair.

"I think the clover really goes with this outfit," she replied.

Lucas laughed at took a picture of her, lying on the ground with a clover tucked behind her ear, smiling as she looked at the clouds. He had never seen someone so beautiful.

 _look for four-leafed clovers_ ✓

/

 _-_ _Skipping Rocks_

Maya munched on her sandwich that Lucas had made as he pulled up into a reserved part of the lake. They didn't seem suspicious at all, two teenagers in high school with a crate full of sandwiches and a girl with a four-leafed clover tucked in her hair pull up next to a lake. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. Any average person would assume they were bound to have lake sex, which was definitely on Maya's bucket-list, but that didn't seem to be the case this time.

"Alright," he said, after he had pulled next to the lake and helped Maya out of the car. The clover was still tucked safely behind her ear, he neglected to tell her. "So, I was reading all about rock-skipping last night on this website called _Rock Skipper Aficionado_ and it said you need as flat of a rock you can find."

Maya refused to listen to Lucas and grabbed a large, rounded rock and threw it into the lake. The splash seemingly missed Maya but the water hit Lucas full speed.

"Hey, Maya! What the fuck? Do you even listen to me?"

"What'd you say?"

Lucas grunted and snatched a flat rock off of the ground. "Let me show you how a Cowboy does it." His body turned sideways and he extended his arm a few times as if he were throwing a Frisbee. After the sixth time, he let the rock release from his grip and the rock sailed into the air. After a few moments of being airborne, the rock landed on the water and sunk completely to the bottom of the lake.

Maya munched on her sandwich and responded to him between nibbles, food full in her mouth. "That was pathetic."

"You just threw a rock into a lake."

"I just did that to get you wet."

After her sarcastic statement, Maya handed Lucas her sandwich, which resulted in him taking a bite out of it. She didn't mind much. She grabbed the elastic from her wrist and tied it tightly around her hair, grabbing a flat-ish rock and inspecting.

"I guess this will have to do."

"Oh, I'm _sure_ you'll do better than me," Lucas grunted and laughed, taking another bite out of Maya's sandwich.

"Stop eating my sandwich," she responded. Lucas didn't stop eating her sandwich. "Also, I _know_ I'll do better than you. Watch and learn, Huckleberry."

Maya twisted her neck and cracked her fingers before flipping the rock and toying with it for a moment. Once she became comfortable, she shifted her body sideways, as if she were in a Frisbee stance. Her arm was loose and carefree, and it only took one shot for the rock to continue soaring through the air. The rock bounced on the water once. Twice. Thrice. Four times! Five times!

Lucas lost count after the sixth and his eyes kept bouncing with amazement as he watched the rock reach the horizon.

"That had to be at least twenty-one," she said casually, unwrapping her hair from her elastic and snatching the sandwich back from Lucas. Lucas looked at her in awe and amazement, clearly unaware of her rock-skipping expertise.

"Want me to teach you, Cowboy?"

Lucas snapped a pic of Maya smiling cheekily with a flat rock in her hand.

 _skipping rocks_ ✓

/

\- _Horseback Riding_

Lucas turned up the volume of what seemed to be Tim McGraw. It was absolutely awful that they were in the deep South and now Lucas had access to all of the country radio stations he desired. Maya attempted to change the radio once, but Lucas deflected her grab for the radio with a slap of his hand and she never tried again. She had never seen him so protective of something before.

They were holding hands while Lucas drove, which was odd already since Lucas never let his hands falter away from the wheel when he was driving. But today, he seemed much more comfortable and loose than ever before. Maya spending the weekend with him definitely elated his move, and he had a desire to just _touch_ her. So while listening to one of Taylor Swift's old albums, he reached over and grabbed her hand from his lap. She barely even blinked, it seemed natural for Lucas and Maya to be touching at all times—even if they were completely and " _totally_ " platonic.

"That must be it," Maya said, using her hand that was wrapped around Lucas's to point to a small ranch. Lucas could see a few horses roaming around aimlessly. It surely would be interesting watching Maya attempt to ride a horse. He was already a master at it, as he had mastered the skill at the young age of ten with his mom, so it would be no difficult task for him. Maya, on the other hand, could barely steer a car, much less ride a horse.

Lucas pulled up and parked into what seemed like a parking lot, but was really just a pile of dirt with lines carved into the mud with a stick. "The car people at the Dallas airport are going to kill us when they get their car back."

"This seems high-key sketchy," she noted, releasing her hand from Lucas's and popping out of the car. She could feel her white converse sink into the mud. _Great_.

"You're the one who arranged the sketchy horseback riding lessons with some creep you found on craigslist."

"Well, I want you to know that if we're about to get murdered, I'll push you over so he can kill you first and then do a getaway in the minivan."

"That won't work, you can't drive."

Maya smiled cheekily. "Why did you think I asked you to teach me how to drive?"

Lucas looked at her quizzically and smiled. He took his hand in hers, anyway, even if she was being _slightly_ annoying. "I'll have you know," he muttered, squeezing her hand tightly as he helped her wade her way through the sticky mud, "I'm an expert in horseback riding."

"Well, I'm an expert cowgirl if that helps at all."

Lucas's eye twitched. "That's gross!" he yelled at her playfully, giving her the stink eye.

"Ha- _ha_ ," she responded in a monotone voice. "I'm kidding, you prude. I'm a virgin."

Lucas stopped in his tracks, almost tripping over. His feet stumbled and he almost fell face-first into the mud. "You're— _what_?!"

"I'm—a—virgin," she repeated slowly, giving him an odd stare.

"What—? I thought you and—Josh—you know, did the—you know, the—the—the—"

"The _nasty_?" Maya laughed. "He tried to force me. It didn't really get far. I wasn't ready."

" _Oh_."

"Stop looking so surprised."

"I'm not surprised!" he said, looking quite surprised. "I just—sorry—I just assumed—I don't know. Forget I ever talked."

Maya looked up and smiled at him. "Don't believe everything you hear Lucas," she said with a raised brow. "See, I heard that you stripped down completely and Lucy Filli's party back in Junior year, and you rode someone like a bull when you were drunk. But I'm pretty certain that was a rumor."

"Actually—well—"

"I was there," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Caught the whole thing on tape, even though I didn't know who you were at the time. It's somewhere on my computer back at home."

Lucas groaned loudly. Maya would use that against him all the time if she could, which she probably was going to.

"Well, you must be Lucas and Maya!" a deep southern voice called in front of them. Maya nodded her head wearily and Lucas's brows furrowed to stare the guy down. If he came anyway _near_ him and Maya, he'd pick Maya up and throw her toward the car and pull the guy hard enough so he could tie him into a knot.

The guy wore a flannel and some overalls over them, he had unruly brown hair and a hat on top of it to keep it in place. A weed was placed between his teeth and he smiled at them, all of his white teeth shining through. He wasn't old or anything, which is what made Lucas's jaw tick. He was _hot_ and Maya knew it.

Maya's hand released from Lucas's and she tried to look natural in front of the extremely hot farmer, but it was anything _but_ natural. Lucas fought the urge to punch the hot farmer in the face.

"That your cousin?" she asked him playfully, knocking her shoulder against his. He was slightly amused.

"Ha-ha," he said melancholy.

"Why, I'm Bruce!" he said, shining his teeth again. Maya bit the inside of her cheek. "Y'all coming here looking for horseback riding lessons, why, you came to the right place!" His southern accent was unbelievably deep and rich, Lucas almost couldn't understand him, and he had grown up in the South. It was hard to believe Maya wasn't rolling her eyes.

Bruce showed the pair around and picked out several horses for them. Lucas was seething in the back while Bruce found any opportunity to put his hands on Maya, but Maya didn't mind. Maybe she didn't mind a little _too_ much. Maya was paired with a medium sized, black horse that was named Clutterbucket. Lucas was paired with what seemed to be an untamed horse named Petunia. It definitely wasn't acting like a nice flower in the wild. It whinnied and kicked Lucas's shins whenever he tried to get near it.

"Can't you place me with that other horse over there?" Lucas begged Bruce, pointing to the much tamer white horse that was eating some hay.

"Why, you want me to pair ya' with Deathly Roger? Why would ya' want that?"

Lucas grumbled under his breath and bit his lip as Bruce helped Maya onto her horse. His hands lingered on her hips for far too long.

Lucas got on top of Petunia with no help from Bruce, not that he was willing to offer it, anyway. He rustled his hand through his hair and rubbed his jaw. He locked his feet in the saddle and he could feel the horse become restless. He needed to get the horse to trust him or he'd be thrown off and maybe break a bone or two, and that would not be good in front of Maya after he had just told her he's the horse-riding expert.

Maya laughed. She had two laughs, one that was soft and sweet; that one showed a little of her teeth and she'd throw her head back. But she had another laugh, one that made her snort and sneeze and her eyes watered. It was a laugh that was rare to show up unless she was with Lucas. But when she looked at Lucas struggling to stay on Petunia, the second laugh erupted from her throat.

Bruce helped Maya (not Lucas) with a few techniques to help keep the horse at bay. She knew to dig her heels in the side of the horse to speed it up and to pull back to reins to slow it down. She would want to lean forward on the horse if she would want maximum speed, but Bruce suggested she stay in the single digits of miles during her first riding lesson.

Lucas eventually tamed Petunia and got her to trust him, so he rode around the ring uselessly, watching in anger as Bruce taught Maya pointers. She listened to him, but at one point, Lucas could tell by the glazed look in her eye that she was starting to ignore him.

"Hold on one second, Bruce," Maya muttered, yanking her horse around, clopping over to Lucas on Clutterbucket.

"Why aren't you talking to Bruce anymore?" Lucas asked innocently, though a bit of resentment managed to seep its way through his tone.

Maya squinted her eyes to look at him through the sunlight. She was starting to wish she had sunglasses. "Let me tell you about Bruce, Lucas. He's hot, I'll admit it." She saw the way Lucas's jaw clenched. "And he has really good teeth, but I don't understand how. His _breath_ reeks of garlic. And, don't get me started on his personality. He only talks about his horses and how he cleans up the dung. It isn't very fascinating. Plus, he's a Texas man. I'm a New York girl."

"I'm a Texas man!" Lucas protested.

Maya was silent for a few moments, studying his face. Her eyes wandered to his structured jawbone, his green eyes, his sandy hair. "You're the exception."

Lucas began to feel a smile tug at the edge of his lips. Before he could respond, he saw Clutterbucket move her head and his shoe dig at the ground. He had dealt with horses long enough to know when a horse was getting restless. Clutterbucket seemed tame enough but if Maya caused a disruption, the horse would become agitated.

"Maya, stop moving."

Maya froze, a chill went through her spine. She could feel the horse starting to move. She had learned some moves to tame the horse and keep it still, but these were still horses in training, and her mind became blank. It was no wonder they got the lessons for free, there was always a degree of danger involved when working with animals, even more since these animals weren't fully trained. Besides, Maya barely knew anything at all.

"Lucas, why is Clutterbucket moving?"

"Stop talking," he responded. He held out his hand and she took it, moving ever so slightly but angering the horse. The horse started to whinny loudly and Lucas clasped his hand around Maya's hand tighter. He had no idea how he would grab her and pull her away from harm. It seemed odd that Lucas's Petunia was now the tame one and Maya's Clutterbucket failed to be, but Bruce wasn't that good of a horse trainer, it seemed.

"On the count of three," he said. Maya nodded in response. Clutterbucket inched forward. "One. Two. Three!" Maya leaped forward as Clutterbucket began to run. Lucas caught her by the armpits. Lucas was facing forward on the horse while Maya was facing backward. Their chests were together and Maya looked at Clutterbucket, running around the ring and ramming into things. God only knows how many bones she would have broken if she stayed on that horse.

"Probably shouldn't have ordered a free horseback riding lesson on Craigslist."

"What're y'all two doing up on one horse!?" Bruce screamed, flailing his built hands in the air. Maya eyed Bruce wearily. He bounded up to the pair and stared at them angrily. "Miss, was this gentleman bothering you? Do I need to call the cops?"

Lucas's hands wrapped around Maya's body protectively. This guy was not good news, Lucas could feel it.

Maya laughed her little laugh that sounded like an angel's chorus. "Um, no Bruce. We're good. I think we'll be going now."

"Why, you two haven't been here for very long! What's the rush?"

Maya's fingers tightened around Lucas's shirt. The two were mushed together on the horse, giving barely any room to breathe. "We're awfully busy. On time restraints."

"Well, don't you need help?"

"No," Lucas responded for her. Bruce looked at Lucas with a twinge of jealousy and resentment, but before Bruce could say anything, Maya was already hopping off with the help of Lucas. He soon followed suit and gave Bruce an evil look that made Bruce step back. Maya forced Bruce to take a picture of them standing near the horse, which made Bruce's nose flare up.

"Why, I hope you two have a fine day," he responded, a fake smile plastered on his face as he gave Maya back her phone

Lucas and Maya rushed back to the car and sped opposite of the ranch to get away from Bruce. "That man was bad news," Lucas said, his body stiff as he clenched his jaw. His body softened, though, when Maya tenderly placed her hand on his arm. "I was about to throw him into the horse muck. Would've done him a lot of good. He had no idea how to train horses, much less teach people how to ride them. Petunia was completely untamed when he gave her to me and your Clutterbucket was uncomfortable with being ridden. Any _experienced_ —"

"Shut it, jitterbug, won't you?" Maya laughed, removing her hand from his bicep as he became less tense. "Well, that surely was interesting, but we got that one checked off our list. Onto the next."

 _horseback riding_ ✓

/

 _\- Play at a Park_

Lucas and Maya munched down on yogurt and supreme sandwiches they had bought from a local sandwich shop at the small town they stumbled upon after running from Bruce. Afterward, they wandered their way to the park. It was a small playground, not fit for two young adults, but they didn't seem to care.

It was abandoned and gave Lucas the creeps. It was rusty and wet, probably from the rain the prior night. The swings swung in the wind sadly, looking hopeless as no one played with them. Maya bounded ahead of Lucas. hopping on one of the swings. It held up her weight well, and she began to soar through the sky.

Lucas laughed at her as she reached the peak on her swing and he snapped a picture of her making a funny face. The two had a swing race (Lucas won, only because of his long legs, but don't mention it to Maya). They did 'lava' around the park, jumping from each place and slide, attempting to keep their feet off of the wooden ground.

 _play at a park_ ✓

/

 _\- Cow Tipping_

Lucas got lost on their way to the cattle ranch. Maya didn't see how since it was only five minutes out, but, nonetheless, they got lost. It was fine, however, since they were slightly ahead of schedule in the first place.

Lucas was sweating and his face was red. He didn't want to go cow-tipping for several reasons. Cows weighed up to 2,400 pounds if they were male, which means they weren't even _cows_ and thatthey were bulls. Female cows weighed up to 1,600 punds. Plus, he was an animal rights activist and he saw this as morally wrong. Also, cow-tipping was impossible.

Maya tied her hair up in a tight ponytail and sneaked around the barbed wire, careful to not touch it. She looked back at Lucas who was fitfully following her, his face sour and grim. It was lucky that the cattle rancher wasn't in their presence or they would be in a whole lot of legal trouble.

Maya was a firm believer that cow-tipping was possible, even though Lucas knew it wasn't. Back when he was thirteen and still lived in Texas, he attempted to go cow-tipping with Zay. It ended up not working and with very angry cows. It's how he got that scar on his leg. But no amount of convincing was going to stop Maya from attempting to cow-tip. She said, "This is a country thing! I've got to try it!" and all these other things about being a lonely city girl where Lucas drove her out anyway so she'd shut up.

"This is very dangerous," Lucas reminded her, creeping up behind her.

"Shhh!" she whisper-yelled, "you're going to scare the cows!"

A mass of cows was in the center of the field, yanking grass out of the ground and chewing on it. "Actually," Lucas said, when Maya responded that the cows eating the grass must be bad for the environment, "they're not eating the roots, they're only eating the top of the grass. Goats on the other hand—"

"Shut up," she grunted, crawling around the back of a shed and peeking her eyes out slightly to stare at the cows. They seemed perfectly tamed. She handed him her phone and smiled at him. "Take pictures, or it doesn't count."

Before Lucas could protest, Maya was already jumping out of her hiding spot with a loud roar and chasing down one of the cows as if to take it by surprise. Her body slammed against the black and white meat and the cow only jiggled, paying no attention to the white girl trying to push her over.

She slammed her shoulder into the cow again and grunted. No success. She gave up on the cow and eyed another one. She ran full speed toward it, screaming bloody murder. The cow reacted quickly and began bounding off the other way at an amazing speed, Maya couldn't keep up. She kept chasing cows for a good part of her time until she finally slumped back down to Lucas, tired.

"That was a waste of my time."

"I told you!" he responded, handing her back her phone. "But, anyway, look, I snapped some awesome shots of you falling." She swiped through the photos and saw a couple of her chasing after the cow, one of her arm pressed against a cow, one with her face as red as a tomato, and one running away from a speeding cow like she was scared for her life.

But, hey! At least she tried.

 _go cow-tipping_ ✓

/

 _\- Drive-in Movie_

The movie also happened to be silent and someone somehow forgot to put the subtitles on. Lucas and Maya sat shoulder to shoulder next to one another and took a selfie from a decent part of the crowd to prove to Riley that they did see a movie together. The minivan trunk was open, which certainly was a stark difference to all of the rusty trucks that flooded the area.

Maya munched on a sandwich as Lucas predicted what they said.

"Oh, Bobby!" he said in a falsetto voice, making Maya's eyes prickle with tears of laughter. "Why, I told you to get the white tux, not the black one! You never listen." His voice dropped a few dramatic octaves. "But baby," he said, "I look better in the black one! It's classy."

"Let me try," she said, swallowing down her PB&J and handing Lucas the other half, which he munched on. Her voice swooned slightly to indicate she was the girl. "Bobby, you forgot to brush your teeth!" she yelped. "Now I can taste the onion you had for dinner! You're disgusting! We're not having sex tonight!" Her voice dropped dramatically into an obviously fake masculine tone. "But we _need_ to have sex! A man has got his cravings!"

The two laughed together joyously until someone in front of them told them to "shut the fuck up". They laughed some more, perhaps a bit quieter this time.

 _drive-in movie_ ✓

/

 _\- Snipe Hunting_

They ate dinner at the same restaurant they had lunch at, seemingly because it was the only restaurant in the small town. Albeit, they got weird looks because there were barely any visitors in the remote town they were in, but they didn't mind.

Maya held out the plastic grocery bag she got from the local Walmart when she wanted to buy a KitKat. Her eyes burned as she pulled out her phone's flashlight to scour the countryside looking for a snipe. "Snipe's are as real as the Loch Ness Monster," she grumbled loudly over to Lucas, who was much too engaged in the activity.

"Oh, shut it," he said. "The Loch Ness Monster is real. And I've seen a Snipe in real life."

"It was probably a mouse, you fiend."

Lucas merely ignored her and kept his eyes peeled for a Snipe. He saw something scurrying in the corner of his eye and he leaped backward in an attempt to get it, only falling on Maya and making her tumble to the ground.

"Dammit!" she yelled, pushing Lucas off of her.

Lucas scrambled forward in an army crouch, his ass waving in the air as he wrapped his grocery bag around the small rodent.

"This is animal abuse!"

"No it isn't," he grunted, picking up the bag and showing it to Maya who screeched in response to the bag that was moving around wildly. "I'm just picking him up for a little fun. I'll release him back into the wild."

" _He_ could be a _she_. I hope you get rabies and die."

"Thanks."

Maya picked up her phone and Lucas opened the bag. The rodent jumped out of the bag and Lucas's face was full of surprise. It was a good thing Maya snapped a perfectly timed photo of the rodent doing acrobatics in the air while Lucas had a terrified look in his face.

 _snipe hunting_ ✓

/

 _\- Stargazing_

Maya and Lucas sat on the hood of the minivan while Lucas pointed out constellations to her that she couldn't see in New York. "You see that?" he asked her. She nodded her head, which was lying on his shoulder. "That's Ursa Major," he said. He picked up her finger and dragged it to another point in the sky. "That's Ursa Minor."

"That's Jupiter, right?" she asked.

"Mhmmm," he responded. He led her hand to another point in the sky. "There's the constellation Perseus. Right there is the North Star. Right there is Orion and then a little bit down from Orion would be Lepus. To the left of that is Canis Major."

He sat down her hand but didn't let go of it. "You sure know your constellations. I wish I grew up in Texas. It's so nice here."

Lucas smiled. He loved her, he truly did.

Maya took out her phone and snapped a selfie of the pair making silly faces.

She remembered what it was like a few weeks prior when they were stargazing during week three. Everything was so different then. She barely knew him then. She could feel her ears roar and she had the ridiculous urge to smile. She was unbelievably happy, and _yes_ , it was because of him. She couldn't explain the feeling she got around him. It was so different than what she had with Riley. With Riley, it was a sense of mirth and happiness. With Josh, it was a sense of lust and infatuation, mixed with a bit of fear.

But with Lucas, it was indescribable. She was so unbelievably happy with him. He knew how to make her feel better, and _exactly_ what to say. It seemed impossible that they've known each other for a little over two months, it felt like she had known him for a decade. He understood her in a way no one else could.

And that scared her.

 _stargazing_ ✓

/

 _\- Get Drunk and Kiss_

It was a two-in-one thing. Maya paired them up together because she couldn't imagine kissing Lucas without a little bit of liquid courage. It was a good thing that Lucas was so attractive and looked twenty-one so he could buy them a bottle of vodka.

It didn't take Maya a long time to become drunk. A few shots did the trick and the same with Lucas. They were dancing around the room making silly faces at each other while they listened to Adele on repeat. They made their own band and sang parts of the song that were from other songs.

It was edging near midnight and they needed to finish their task or they would've failed. They sent Riley a bunch of annoying drunk snaps to prove they were completing the list.

"Maya," Lucas said slightly drowsily, his eyes dipping as he looked at her.

"Hmmm?" she asked absentmindedly, on the floor and playing with her toes. Her hair was in brains, courtesy to Lucas. He could do a mean cowgirl braid.

He got up from the bed and sat down next to her. "You're so pretty," he said to her.

She hiccuped and thanked him. "You're pretty pretty too," she responded.

They sat in silence for a moment before Lucas spoke again. "Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

It took a moment for her to respond. Granted, she was drunk and didn't have much of a mind. Also, it was part of the task list Riley gave them. Why not? He moved a stray piece of hair from her face behind her ear and grabbed her face gently with her hands.

This time, there was no Riley to interrupt them. This time, it was just her and him. This time, it didn't matter. It was only her and Lucas now in their little bubble.

"Yes," she responded softly.

His lips touched hers.

And it was unlike anything else she had ever felt before.

 _get drunk_ ✓

 _kiss_ ✓

* * *

 **I M SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. THIS CHAPTER IS SO FUCKING LONG IM SORRY**


	11. no week

**HELLO notice that there isn't a week in this chapter beCAUSE they don't have time to do one. a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. TBH.**

* * *

 **objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
_ _ **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**_ _  
_ _ **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**_ _  
_ _ **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**_ _  
_ _ **7\. get creative! paint fight**_ _  
_ _ **8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!**_ _  
_ _ **9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't**_ _  
 **10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours**  
11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous  
12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

"Can I kiss you?"

It took a moment for her to respond. Granted, she was drunk and didn't have much of a mind. Also, it was part of the task list Riley gave them. Why not? He moved a stray piece of hair from her face behind her ear and grabbed her face gently with her hands.

This time, there was no Riley to interrupt them. This time, it was just her and him. This time, it didn't matter. It was only her and Lucas now in their little bubble.

"Yes," she responded softly.

His lips touched hers.

And it was unlike anything else she had ever felt before.

/

 **December 11th**

The clock stroke twelve as soon as Lucas's lips were placed on Maya's. She couldn't describe the feeling to you even if she wanted to. It felt like one thousand butterflies were attacking her stomach. It felt like she had a serious sunburn on her face. Her body fell into mush and her head was in jumbles. She wasn't able to describe the feeling she had when she kissed Lucas, but she knew it felt good.

Their first kiss was risky, it was soft and sensual, it led nothing on. Riley said just kiss, she didn't say make out, she didn't say take it further.

She said _kiss_.

Lucas pulled his mouth away from hers, his eyes studying her face. Maya was suddenly very sober. Her attention multiplied by the tenfold, she could sense everything in the room. The way Lucas's lips tasted like day old PB&J and shitty vodka, the way his body smelled like cinnamon, how his hand was on her cheek and he was looking at her so _intensely_ she almost ran away. The eggs on the kitchen table that he left out from the morning. Everything seemed so vivid and colorful, even though she had already taken out her contacts.

With Josh, it was a bit different. When he kissed her, it felt gross. It was unsatisfying, it was forced. He just kissed her, like it was what you were supposed to do as a couple. Not because he loved her, just because it seemed right.

With Lucas, no matter how corny it was, it felt like that missing puzzle piece had found its way into her heart and she never knew that the puzzle piece was surprisingly shaped like a cowboy hat branded with the letters LUCAS on it.

"Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes please," she said, and Maya cringed by how awful and desperate she sounded. It didn't matter to Lucas, though, who was suddenly very sober. Just the taste of Maya's lips on his was enough to make him dizzy.

He placed his lips on hers again and Maya felt everything fade away from her. She could only process his lips on hers, his lips on hers, his lips on hers. He was so warm and her vision was fuzzy. He moved his head to deepen the kiss and Maya breathed in sharply, tilting her head to allow him more access to her lips.

Lucas's mind was running a million miles a minute. His thoughts mostly consisted of: holy shit I'm kissing Maya-Fucking-Hart, I hope I remember this in the morning, her lips taste like cherry, the vodka was disgusting.

She fell backward onto the carpet and Lucas followed suit, their lips not detaching for a single moment. It felt so unbelievably amazing to kiss him. No, make out. They were totally making out at this point.

And, Lucas was a _damn_ good kisser. He knew exactly what he was doing. Lucas's lips wandered away from hers and found their way onto her neck. His hot lips trailing her neck and sucking on her taut skin, leaving her breathless. It was only until Lucas rubbed her breasts when Maya began to realize that they took it too far, so did Lucas.

They shoved their respective partners away at the same time, out of breath and their lips tingling. Riley said _kiss_ , she said _kiss_ not make out! Not kiss each other's necks! Not rub each other's boobs! Maya was sure she was going to have hickey's tomorrow. This was not good, especially not in front of Lucas's father. Maya's hand itched to text Riley about _what the fuck just happened_? but she sat still on the floor, looking at her toes.

Lucas was breathing loudly, his hand running up and down over his face. One thought was going through his mind: shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

/

After refusing to talk to each other, and being unbelievably sober, they brushed their teeth without a peep and fell into bed. Their backs were facing each other and they lied on opposite sides of the bed, avoiding any physical contact if they could. Things were beyond _awkward_ for them, it was embarrassing to be in the same room as him at this point. And they had to sleep in the same bed.

It took Maya only a little while for her to fall asleep, but Lucas stayed up. He listened to her snore and his mind was in a billion pieces. He _kissed_ her! He _made out_ with her! He kissed her _neck_ and probably gave her _hickeys_! He fondled her breasts!

He remembered the way she sighed with a deep breath as he kissed her neck, the way her body would sweat and how heated his body was when it touched hers.

He stayed awake all night thinking about it, not even getting a wink of sleep.

/

When Maya awoke, she was confused. She had forgotten her name, where she was, who she was with, even if only for a second. Then her thoughts came flooding back to her like a tsunami, horrible and deadly. Lucas kissed her last night, they made out, he caressed her in places she had never been _caressed_! When she looked over to her right, Lucas was making breakfast already. She could only see his back, which rippled with his taut muscles, but she could already see he was tense.

He must've not slept last night.

Maya opened the covers slightly and tip-toed out of bed, determined to make it to the bathroom while being unnoticed so she could brush her teeth. She knew she couldn't avoid Lucas forever, but she only wished she could.

The path to the bathroom was straight through the kitchen, so Maya had to be silent. She was hoping Lucas wouldn't turn around and see her.

Lucas grabbed a plate and plopped the pancake on top of it, still unaware that Maya was awake. He turned around, set on waking her up and giving her a pancake, but when he turned around, his body slammed into something soft and his pancake fell on the floor.

"Ahhhh!" Maya screamed, picking up the pancake that was on her foot. She handed it back to Lucas, refusing to look in his eyes. "Sorry," she gulped, paying close attention to the tile floor.

Lucas was breathing loudly. His chest was heaving and he could feel his stomach shake when he remembered what happened last night. Things were awfully silent, Maya could hear the blood roar through her ears and the refrigerator running. They were unbelievably close, they were literally breathing the same air He was looking down at her, his chin to his chest, and she paid note to the freckle on his collarbone.

She mustered up the courage to look at him, her head moved up slowly, her eyes lingering on his lips—the one's she kissed last night. To his nose, where he was breathing deeply from, and all the way up to his eyes. The color of sea foam and destruction. His eyes that made her melt in her stomach and his eyes that made her open up to him like no one ever before.

"We should talk—"

"I'm going to go brush my teeth," she said quickly, pouncing away from Lucas and running to the bathroom. She had to get out of his gaze as soon as possible, or she was likely going to jump on top of him and gobble his face up. She wasn't going to lie, last night felt _good_ —beyond good. But, truthfully, if she had to go back and do it again, she wouldn't. Things were too weird with them and now they could barely talk. That's one of the things they were _really_ good at—talking! They talked about their feelings, and their dads, and their respective best friends.

She could barely talk to Lucas when they almost kissed the week previous, and now that they had a full-blown make-out session, what would she do now? She shut the door behind her and locked it. She needed some privacy to think.

She should probably brush her teeth. She grabbed her toothbrush from the stand and began to brush for two minutes, keeping her mind occupied with things other than Lucas. Pink, she loved the color pink. But Lucas wore pink boxers. Okay, so unicorns. Riley's favorite animal was a unicorn. Riley also happened to throw her and Lucas together. Everything led back to him.

Once she spat out the toothpaste and washed her face, she looked at herself in the mirror and her eye caught something for the first time.

A fucking _hickey_!

He totally just fucking _marked_ her!

Maya stormed out of the bathroom in a fit of rage, only in her bra and panties since she was about to hop in the shower. "Lucas!" she yelled.

He was sitting at the kitchen counter, delving into his pancakes when he turned around and noticed Maya. "I made you some pancakes if—" his sentence stopped short once he noticed Maya's clothes—or lack thereof. "What are you doing?" he grumbled, his face suddenly very hard with concentration. He had to think of his naked grandma or something.

"You gave me a hickey!" she yelped, stomping up to him and pointing out the purple mark on her neck. Two other small hickeys accompanied them, but they were less noticeable and easily overpowered by the gigantic hickey.

He did... _that_? Lucas's mind was on overdrive. There was Maya, the most beautiful girl he had ever met, clad in her underwear with hickey marks on her neck that he provided. He never thought in a million years that this would ever happen. If you had told him three months ago that he would have made out with Maya Hart in a Texan hotel and given her a hickey, he would've laughed.

But here he was. With Maya Hart. In a Texan hotel. With a hickey. He's not laughing.

"I'm going to go take a... _hot_ shower," she said, her eyes gleaming at Lucas, "and let's hope I get rid of your mistake." Lucas's cheeks lit up red as Maya put him on the spot.

This was too intense for him. They were both half naked and Maya was yelling at him.

Before Lucas could respond, she was already bounding down the hall and hopping in the shower. He heard the water turn on and he breathed out loudly. He didn't even notice he was holding his breath.

And he had the ridiculous urge to smile, despite the situation he was in.

/

"Do you want to talk?" Lucas asked her, pulling the minivan out of the parking garage. Their suitcases were in the back, as they had checked out of the hotel already. They were set on meeting his father at his ranch house and then straight from there, they'd drive to the Dallas airport and then back home. Hopefully, Lucas wouldn't get fined for making the car such a mess.

"No," she responded quickly, her hand massaging her hickey right on her neck. The hickey had turned from a bright purple to a more light purple after she had hopped out of the shower, but she was still refusing to talk to Lucas at all.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he grumbled, his hands white as they clenched around the wheel. "I didn't mean to give you a hickey—"

"And fondle my boobies?" she grumbled back to him, her head lying on the cold window of the car. Well, at least they were being honest with each other at this point. Although the air was slightly awkward, it wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Lucas was thankful for that one miracle today.

Lucas laughed. "Did you just call your breast boobies?"

"Yes!" she Maya said defensively. "My left boob is bigger than my right, I call her Bertha and my right boob is called Janus. However, I'm still mad at you so I'm not talking to you!"

And that was the conversation.

Lucas's mind itched for some kind of _actual_ talk with Maya about all of the weird things that has happened the last few weeks while completing the challenge. For one, they had slept in the same bed probably an upward of five times. They had fallen on top of each other, been on dates (or, at least lunch dates), went on a vacation together, been accused of sleeping with one another, sprained an ankle, danced to some weird pop music, been to each other's houses, spent a holiday together, she went to a few of his baseball games, told each other their deepest darkest secrets, hung out with each other's friends, dressed like the other one for Halloween, and last but not least, _kissed_. It seemed like they were dating, well, at least to Lucas.

But anytime Lucas tried to talk to her about it, she would shut him out. I mean, it was true, there was a specific rule not to fall in love—and he wasn't doing that (he says)! But there was no rule against dating and seeing where it went. All of this was very confusing for Lucas. But, their personalities rarely clashed with one another and that's why it was so easy for them to talk—but not about them. Anything but them.

The car only played music as Lucas drove himself out of the city. Maya was attempting to cover the hickey so Lucas's father wouldn't assume stuff about her and him—but he didn't see why he wouldn't. She was also tweezing her eyebrows and trying to take the gunk out of her eyes. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one. More like, "what happened happened and we'll move on and never talk about it" but Lucas _wanted_ to talk about it. But it was clear Maya didn't.

After a few more minutes of driving out into the countryside, Lucas saw a familiar sign and his stomach dropped a few stories. They were a good five minutes away from his father. He hadn't seen him in—four, five years? Something like that, and within the time he hadn't seen him he had enjoyed every single moment of it.

Despite Maya's rule of not talking to him, she looked over at him with concern. His face was clenched and he was breathing loudly. He was probably going to have a panic attack if Maya hadn't reached over and grabbed his hand that was on the center console with hers. It was a small action but made Lucas sigh with relief. At least he was with someone he was comfortable with when meeting the person he despised the most, even if the person he was comfortable with was not talking to him.

"I'm lifting my no-talking-to-you rule," Maya said as he parked at the side of the road. He could see the ranch house, a cow mulling around, a large pig eating some muck. This place made him shiver. It was his father's home that he had been forced to move in when he came back into his life. Her hands intertwined with his and Lucas breathed slowly, trying to regulate himself. "Listen, you don't have to meet your dad. He's the biggest asshole in the world and deserves to be in jail for what he did to you and your mother. He doesn't deserve a second chance, much less for you to meet him. If you still want to go, at any time just say my name and we can go. Okay? And don't listen to anything he says, he's probably a liar."

Lucas nodded and removed his hand from Maya's to jump out of the car. Once the car was locked and Lucas had taken control of himself, his hand found Maya's again, warm with comfort, and they walked up to the ranch where his father, who had ruined his life, was at.

They were at the front door and Lucas stared at the oak wood. Maya knocked for him since Lucas's arms were unmoving, their hands still clasped together. She could hear a shuffle in the house and now her heartbeat was racing. Her stomach curled with the idea of Lucas meeting his father once again. If she had met her father again, she'd probably kick his testicles so hard he'd be unable to have any more children.

Then the door opened.

And that _definitely_ was not Lucas's father.

/

" _Misty_?" Lucas yelled, his hand falling away from Maya's in surprise. The look on Lucas's face was of utter shock. Words failed to leave his mouth, mostly incoherent "buhhhh buhhh buhhhhh?"

So _that_ was the infamous Misty Lucas talked about. Maya had no idea why she was in Lucas's father's abode, but she figured she had something to do with Frank and Lucas reconnecting—wait, he gave him Lucas's number! The bitch!

She could see why Lucas fell in love with her, though, easily. She was tall and lean and had glowing long hair that was tied tightly in a ponytail. She was smiling at Lucas and she had big, green eyes that shined. She was very athletic and had toned legs. She almost looked like Lucas's sister.

"Lucas!" Misty said, grabbing Lucas by his arm and dragging him into the house. Maya followed Lucas inside, Misty hadn't seemed to see her yet. Also, Misty had a slight Australian accent. "It's so nice to see you, I missed you so much!" she giggled, throwing her arms around his neck and crushing him with a bear hug. Lucas's arms stayed by his legs in shock. His face was still confused.

Maya felt a pang through her stomach. She couldn't place what it was, but later, she only knew it was jealousy.

"So, you're Misty?" Maya said awkwardly, trying to get Misty's attention away from Lucas. Misty turned around suddenly, her hand still on Lucas's shoulder. It seemed like she had just noticed Maya.

"Oh! I didn't know Lucas brought a... _visitor_ ," she said with slight malice, her teeth clenching. "Lucas must have talked about me then, for you to know my name!"

"He said it when he saw your face," Maya pointed out, refusing to let Misty get to her head.

Misty plastered on a fake smile. She was totally a bitch. "Oh, alright! What's your name then?"

"I'm Maya."

"Never heard of you."

"That's because you haven't talked to Lucas for _two_ years—"

"Okay, _what_?" Lucas said, interrupting Maya before she was about to tear the earrings straight out of Misty's ears. She didn't like this girl. "Why the fuck are you here, Misty? I thought I was supposed to meet my father? Why aren't you in Australia? What is happening? Why did you give my father my phone number? I'm super confused?"

Maya had to regain her composure. This was not how she envisioned meeting Misty, not that she envisioned meeting her in the first place. She knew a few things about Misty with the things Lucas had told her. She had come to the conclusion that Misty was a heartbreaking asshole, liked to ruin people's lives, and sucked.

"Lucas, you told me so much about your father," Misty said to Lucas, her eyes set on Maya in a steely gaze. "I came here a few months ago in Texas, and I tracked down your father. He said he regretted everything he had done to you and your mother and he was begging for your number. I couldn't refuse!"

"My _father_ is a _rapist_ ," Lucas said in a voice that sounded astounded. He was utterly confused with Misty, his father, and now Maya. Misty and Maya in the same room? His head was on overdrive. "No one like that deserves a second chance." He then turned around to Maya who was staring at Misty venomously. "I want to go, Maya."

"No, no, nonononono!" Misty said suddenly, grabbing Lucas's bicep and pulling him toward her before he could leave. "Listen, I now realize that telling your father your number was a mistake. I was just so grief-stricken with missing you, I tried to mend one of your relationships. Lucas, listen, I regret ever leaving you. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life and every single day in Australia I thought of you. Every. Single. Day."

Lucas had a cloudy look in his eyes that Maya didn't enjoy. Blood roared through her ears and she couldn't think straight. This was all too fast. But if she knew one thing, Misty didn't deserve Lucas. She abandoned him at his worst and now is going to try to snatch him back up at his best. It wasn't fair.

Lucas had dreamed of the day he would reunite with Misty over and over again when she had left him. She would come home from Australia and knock on his apartment door—9184—and tell him she was sorry. In every single vision of his, he would imagine him forgiving her immediately because he had loved her so much. But Misty seemed like a memory now, she had left his life for two years. Albeit, her absence still shook him and hurt him, but now—now? His breath rattled.

There was Maya.

Lucas wasn't sure if this day could have gotten worse. He was wrong.

Just as he was about to grab Maya's hand and yank her out of this hellhole, a guest decided to show up.

His father.

He was coming from the kitchen and he said one word that made Lucas's ears burn. "Lucas?"

Lucas never thought this day would come. He never imagined being in the same room as Misty and his father, much less with the girl—the girl—? Who was Maya, anyway? What was she to him? With Misty and his father's appearance, it made Lucas's head feel jumbled. He had been so certain of his feelings for Maya nearly an hour ago, but now he could barely remember her face. It was the rage coursing through his veins as he saw his father's familiar face. The one that hurt his mother.

Maya's hand clasped over her mouth in shock. This was like a scene from a melodramatic soap opera in the 90's. She couldn't believe she was actually witnessing this. Lucas's hands were clenched and she could almost see the veins popping out of his forearms.

His father spoke again. "Lucas, it's me."

"Lucas," Maya said.

Lucas spared a look at Maya but his attention faltered back to his father—Frank. Lucas had imagined this moment. He would talk to him for two minutes, have a civilized conversation, and flip him off. Instead, his mind was racing with the thoughts: kill him! Kill him! Kill him!

And he was seriously tempted to.

" _Lucas_!" Maya said again and Lucas seemed to snap out of his daze. His breaths turned deep instead of shallow, he began to regain his thoughts.

Lucas said one thing to his father.

"I am changing my number. Don't follow me." And then he turned to Misty. "I—I don't even know what to say to you." And then he turned around to Maya. His lip was quivering and she could see a few tears in his eyes. She had no idea seeing his father would affect him so bad. "Can we go?"

Maya let out a small, meek, "yes." She took a step forward and unclenched his fist. She looked at his palm, slightly bleeding with crescent shaped marks. She sighed out and took his hand in hers and led him out of the ranch house, leaving Misty and Frank behind.

/

They didn't talk on the plane. They didn't even talk about the ticket they got for making the car so muddy. Maya felt like her body was deteriorating. She and Lucas had trouble talking about anything, lately. A large part of it was her fault, she didn't want to think about her feelings toward him. They were so good at talking, though. It's what made them work so well together. It sucked seeing Lucas in pain and not being able to make him feel better.

She desperately wanted to reach over and grab his hand, but she wasn't sure he would appreciate the gesture. Maya had no idea how Lucas had maintained control in front of Frank. If she had seen her father she would have likely ripped his balls off and force fed it to him. But, he was very close to losing it. She saw the way his breaths were shallow and how his hands were clenched. She was pretty certain he was on the edge of a panic attack.

And, Misty. Maya found no bone in her body that liked her. Everything about her reeked that she was a bitch, a fake bitch that wanted to use Lucas for another ploy. She was too perky, too tall, too tan, too nice. Maya never pictured herself having an enemy, but Misty seemed to fit the bill perfectly. How would she explain the hailstorm that had gone down the past few days to Riley?

/

They didn't even talk on the way back home to her house. "Lucas, no, can you drop me off at Riley's?" she said. He didn't respond with anything but a grunt, but he changed course nevertheless. His silence felt like a hot metal rod to her heart.

He parked at the base of her apartment complex and he helped her get out of the car. He was still silent. It was weird, he was always talking. She grabbed her suitcase from the back of his trunk. She figured she could get a cab home or something when she needed to. Also, she was planning on taking a much-needed nap at Riley's.

Before he left her side, she grabbed his elbow with her hand. "Lucas," she said softly. Her voice was so gentle it made Lucas look up in surprise. She grabbed his face with both of her hands so he could look at her. He was so much taller than her it was ridiculous. "Talk to me, okay? It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow, or even within this month. Just let me know what's going on through your head."

He didn't respond but his eyebrows furrowed as he studied her face. "I know I'm a hypocrite about everything I say and do, but will you please?" She thought for a moment, her thumb touching the corner of his lip. "What was it? Project: Get Lucas Happy? We'll get there, okay?"

He had the urge to smile, even after everything.

Maya laughed. Her sweet laugh that made his ears ring. He was lucky he had her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, yeah? I have to head inside, it's getting cold." She released her hands from his face and grabbed her luggage, trekking her way inside Riley's apartment building. Cold seeped through his cheeks.

/

"Okay, let's rewind," Riley said, standing up from exasperation due to Maya's story. "I'm very glad you provided the pictures for me, by the way. You and Lucas did all of the activities I assigned for you to do, then you got drunk, then you made out and Lucas gave you multiple hickeys's and went to second base, then you refused to talk to him in the morning, then his crazy ex-girlfriend that left him two years prior appears at his father's doorsteps, then his father appears from the kitchen, Lucas almost kills his father, you stop him, he doesn't talk to you at all. And now you're here."

Maya breathed out. "That basically sums it up."

"Let me—let me just get my feelings out about the kissing." It was silent for a moment before a very defined. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And then a: "SHUT UP!" from her neighbor.

"Okay, I'm done," she breathed. "Wait—AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"

"—SHUT UP—"

"—HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Okay, I think that's—AHHHHH—"

"RILEY STOP!" Maya yelled, holding Riley's shoulder to calm her down. "That's not that point! Lucas is having an identity crisis! What the fuck do I do?"

"Just—AHH—sorry. I really think I'm—AHHHHHHH—done. That was it I promise. I feel like if this were a fanfiction, this would be the climax."

"Okay, Riley, seriously? Stop."

"AHHHH!—"

Maya clasped her hand over her mouth, but there was still a very prominent muffled scream. When she removed her hand she was still screaming. "AHHHH—" she put her hand over her mouth again and then removed it over and over again. "AHHHH—AHHHH—AHHHH—AHHHH!"

Riley finally stopped and talked, her voice raspy from the screams. "Okay, I seriously think I'm done."

"What do I do?" she groaned, collapsing on her bed. "I feel like everything is all messed up now."

"It's because you love him," she stated nonchalantly. Maya didn't even have the energy to argue with her. She also wasn't necessarily telling a lie. "This Saturday, I'm holding a Christmas party. It's the seventeenth, okay? You're both invited, obviously. And you guys can talk about it there. You have a few days to collect your thoughts before you confront him. Also, I don't know about you but that sounds like a good week for week eleven."

"I don't know about week eleven, or even week twelve." As soon as the words left Maya's mouth, her body felt hot.

She had only known Lucas for about three months. Her feelings about him, or whatever they were, were so intense she couldn't believe she had known him for such little time. It seemed impossible.

"You and Lucas always have a way of working things out," Riley pointed out.

She supposed she was right. But, it didn't make her feel any better.

/

 **December 12th**

Surprisingly, Lucas spoke to her first. He grabbed her bicep and turned her around in the middle of the hall so he could talk to her. He didn't care about oncoming eyes, he had a lot to think about on Sunday and it seemed insignificant to him at this point. Plus, every already assumed they had sex because they went on _vacation_ together. "Sorry I didn't text you last night."

She was so relieved to hear his voice she could feel her heart hiccup in her chest. I'm so pathetic, she thought. "It's—you—it's not an obligation. But, thank you for talking to me anyway. I missed you for the one day you didn't."

"Sorry about that," he gulped. "So many things were happening at once, I don't even think I could speak if I wanted to. But, hey," he said. "Do you think we could talk? Like, right now?"

Maya tugged at her backpack but didn't say anything. She had a Calc test soon, but she was certain that could wait. "Yeah, of course. Anything."

"Thank you, Maya—"

Lucas was cut off from his words by a familiar voice. Maya's heart sank to the bottom of her stomach and she could feel her face become hot. She was seriously wondering if she was stalking Lucas.

"Lucas!"

"Misty, what are you doing here?"

"I forgot to tell you, what, with you running off and all, that I was moving back to New York. For you. For us," she stated, reaching her hand out to grab his. Maya stepped in front of him.

"Misty," Maya said as calm as she could. "Lucas doesn't—"

"Maya, sweetie," Misty said passive-aggressively. "Please, Lucas is his own person, he can speak for himself."

Maya could tell that she wasn't as sweet as Lucas had truly described her. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that Misty was just as abusive as Josh was, perhaps more subtle-like. She left Lucas without a second thought when he wasn't in a good place, and now she's back. Her words were soft but they stung Maya's ears. She was trying to manipulate him. She was using his father against him, trying to come up with some sort of amend. She wanted to tell Lucas this, but she wasn't sure how he would react.

She had known Misty for a little over a day, and she knew she didn't like her. Not one bit.

Things were just starting to turn around for her and Lucas, she was going to tell him something on Saturday. She wasn't quite sure what, but she knew it had to do something with her feelings toward him. She couldn't quite grasp them yet, but she thought she had enough time until then. Misty always fucked up everything, apparently.

Maya looked down at her shoes. Misty was making her feel like a child. She reminded her of Josh vividly, who always treated her as less.

"Misty, Maya and I—"

"Forget Maya," Misty said with a sparkly smile, completely ignoring the fact that Maya was there. "You see her every day, right? Come on, we haven't talked in two years. The least you owe me is to catch up!"

Owe _you_? Why would Lucas owe her _anything_?

He looked at Maya, subconsciously asking for permission. She gulped down her horrible words and let her breath steady. "It's cool, Lucas, we can talk later today. I have a Calc test anyway. Plus, I'm not your— _girlfriend_ ," her voice faltered on the word. "You can do anything you want."

"Later today," he promised her with a smile before she turned away. Her stomach would have erupted in butterflies if she wasn't so angry.

/

Lucas took her to Umami Burger, which sort of felt like a betrayal since that was basically his and Maya's spot since he had met her. His ears tinged pink with the thought of her.

But now that Misty was here, his thoughts were muddled with confusion. Hadn't she abandoned him two years prior? Why was she back in his life?

Lucas bought a burger, but Misty decided not to splurge. She was sitting in a tense position and her eyebrows were furrowed. He remembered that's what she looked like when she was uncomfortable.

Man, he missed Misty. Well, he thought he did, anyway. Maybe it was a longing to love someone. That feeling seemed to disappear when he had met Maya, but now it was back—or perhaps he was confused? Maybe it was both? He had thought Misty was his soulmate when he first met her, but now he didn't know what to think.

"You look uncomfortable," he stated.

Misty let out a tense laugh and rolled her shoulders. "Sorry, I have just had a dialogue of our conversation in my head when we would meet again for the past two years."

Lucas sprang with the first question. "Why did you never call me?"

"Lucas, where I was in Australia, it was basically impossible to call anyone. I was in the middle of the outback, or on the beach. Whichever came first. I truly did think I would be gone for two months, but then two months passed and I hadn't known. And as I later learned, it costs a lot of money to get out of a country."

"So—it wasn't because you were abandoning me?" he asked, surprise full in his voice. Everything seemed so different now. Her long blonde hair, her blue eyes—no. Wait. Maya had blue eyes. Misty had green.

"No, Lucas, it wasn't. I just want a fresh start. I'm coming to a foreign school in the middle of my senior year. You're one of my only friends. I just felt comfortable being with you."

Lucas's mind was on overdrive. He remembered what it was like to love Misty two years ago before everything went to shit. It was a good feeling. But then he remembered what it was like to be with Maya. It felt similar, so similar it was almost impossible to distinguish the two apart. But with Maya, he felt his heart light up anytime she spoke. Misty, she seemed like a dull thought in the back of his head.

Lucas didn't know where he was going with his sentence, but he spoke anyway. "Maya and I, I don't know. We—"

"Forget about Maya," Misty said again. That made Lucas's ears sting. "You and I, we have something special. We have a history. Maya even said so herself that you're not dating."

"We're not dating—I can't explain it. It's not like that—I mean it is—we have kissed—I mean—uh—"

"Lucas," Misty said softly. "If you're that confused about someone, maybe you shouldn't think about it at all. When you know it, you know it."

She had a point, but still. Lucas didn't like the feeling in his stomach when Misty didn't talk well about Maya. He felt a feeling in the back of his brain that Misty was using his confusion about his father against him. He was in such a bad place in his life right now, he had to wonder if Misty was just simply manipulating him.

/

 **December 17th**

They never found the time to talk to each other. Maya always had a test, Lucas always had practice. Maya had something on Thursday, Lucas was going to Farkle's science fair. Misty was always there, too. That kind of stopped Maya from approaching him. Lucas would wave at her to motion her over but she would always mouth _busy_! Lucas would frown but Misty would grab his shoulders and avert his attention back to her.

It's not like Lucas didn't want to talk to Maya, but it's like Misty was stopping him.

Maya's grudge against Misty was harsh, but she understood. Slightly. She hadn't seen him in two years and they had to catch up. But that didn't mean be attached to his hips.

Even Lucas stopped texting her. She figured Misty was hanging out at his house and watching his phone. It felt abusive to Maya like Lucas couldn't escape her grasp. The only time he texted her was past eleven. She never responded. She pretended she was asleep.

Lucas knew she wasn't.

Their relationship, or lack thereof, felt like they were walking on eggshells. Lucas could tell she was holding back on something, maybe it was Misty. It's not like he wanted to hang out with her, more like she was there. Maya felt like if she spoke out against Misty, his girlfriend for years, then he would shut her out. She hadn't talked to Lucas in so long she wasn't sure where they stood, both her and Misty.

She even changed his name on her phone. (Misty changed hers in his).

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 6:48 PM  
seen: 6:50 PM  
**Are you at Riley's?

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 6:51 PM  
seen: 6:51 PM  
**Stop ignoring me. Your read receipts are on. What's up?

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 6:52 PM  
seen: unknown  
**Are you okay?

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 6:53 PM  
seen: unknown  
**Did you seriously turn off your read receipts? Why haven't you talked to me at all?

 **from: Maya Hart  
** **sent: 6:57 PM  
seen: 6:57 PM  
**either u or me is always busy. it's fine tho hahaha im not ignoring u. u just seem kind of distant lately, if i want to be honest. i thought we were going 2 talk abt sunday but misty is taking up all of ur time

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 6:58 PM  
seen: unknown  
**Is this about Misty? I'm sorry about her. If I had known I would have told her to stop hanging out with me as much. :(

Maya felt bad. She couldn't stop him from hanging out with Misty. That felt possessive, and she had no right to be possessive.

 **from: Maya Hart  
** **sent: 7:00 PM  
seen: 7:00 PM  
**no. shes ur friend u havent seen her in yrs. i get that! maybe we can talk tonight at riley's? and

 **from: Maya Hart  
** **sent: 7:00 PM  
** **seen: 7:00 PM  
** week eleven. we havent done it yet.

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 7:02 PM  
seen: unknown  
**Oh shit! We'll figure something out like we always do.

 **from: Lucas Friar  
** **sent: 7:02 PM  
seen: unknown  
**Hey... I also invited Misty. Is that okay?

 **from: Maya Hart  
** **sent: 7:36 PM  
seen: 7:38 PM  
**sure

"That clearly _isn't_ okay!" Riley said. "I invited Lucas, I said no tagalongs! This is not okay! Just tell him no!"

"No!" Maya said defensively. "It's his life, I don't control it."

"He's sabotaging your happiness."

"No, he isn't," Maya said. "Lucas isn't my happiness. We have known each other for three months. That's nothing. He's known Misty far longer."

/

Riley's Christmas party would have been fun if Maya had decided to enjoy herself. She didn't. She spotted Lucas a few times but ducked out of the way before he could see her. She was acting completely pathetic and like a child, but she didn't want to talk to him. She had a feeling talking to him would just lead to fighting.

She felt like everything was happening so fast. Only a week prior, she was with Lucas in Texas and they were happy and looking at the stars together. Only a week before, she had kissed him. Only a week before, Misty had stepped into her life. But she felt like she had been there for an eternity and ruined everything.

She finally mustered up the courage to go scout for Lucas at the party, ignoring the blasting Michael Buble on the speakers. She saw Farkle and asked where he was. He said somewhere in the kitchen.

Her eyes led her to the kitchen and there he was—dressed in blue like always. Next to him—there she was. Misty. And above them, a mistletoe. Misty noticed it first, she pointed above his head. One peck on his lips. Maya felt her ears burn. Before she could see Lucas's reaction to the kiss, not that she wanted to, she turned around and fluttered away.

Forget week eleven. She was done with Lucas.

Why did she even care? They weren't dating.

She needed something to distract herself. She was becoming a self-destructive ball. She partly blamed Lucas and Misty, but she knew it was herself. She had realized so much about herself after Lucas had kissed her, how much he meant to her. And it all sucked because Misty yanked it away as soon as she got it. She had trouble confronting her feelings, but she knew what they were. It was clear as day.

She was in love with him. What had Lucas said?

 _"It's—" he stopped for a moment. He couldn't think. What was it like? Misty seemed like a memory. "It's different for every person, I guess," he started, tracing random patterns on her arm. "You—you get this feeling, around this person, and it's hard to comprehend. You think that they're the best thing to ever happen to you. They make you a better person, they build you up and tear you down; but all for the better. Your heart aches and tugs and you—you want to be near them. It's like they're magnetic. You want to touch their skin, you want to share their grief, you would sacrifice yourself for them. It sucks because you know you'd quite literally go insane if anything happened to them."_

She began to realize that's what it felt like when she was with Lucas. Her heart tugged with the thought of him, but Misty was always there. Always there to distract him. She felt so dramatic. She had even said no falling in love! She can't follow her own damn rules!

She needed a distraction. A mess of jet black hair caught her eye and she swallowed her spit. The perfect distraction. Why was he even here? It didn't matter.

"Josh!" she called, her mind racing and her heart thumping. Why was she talking to him? She was so confused now. He turned around to look at her with a big smile. A kind of evil smile, like he was about to cause trouble. It wasn't soft and soothing like Lucas's. He had blue eyes like she did. Not green like Lucas's. It hurt her brain.

"Maya," Josh said, ambling his way to her. "It's been so long. How are you?" he asked her. His skin made contact with her bicep. She couldn't breathe. What was she doing? She could stop, right here. She whipped her head around to look at Lucas, but she found Misty instead with her arm around him. Her stomach felt like it had just thrown up. She was nauseous. Isn't this what her mom said about love? That it sucked? It totally did.

Maya gulped down her tears and smiled at Josh. "There's a mistletoe," she said, pointing above their heads. And sure enough, on the ceiling fan, there was a mistletoe.

She hadn't talked to Josh in months. What was she doing? "I see you've finally come around." Josh grabbed her waist and smashed his lips onto hers. She felt gross and disgusting like his lips were a sloppy frog. He was wet and gross. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This wasn't like how she had kissed Lucas.

Her stomach filled with something: dread. She shouldn't have called Josh over. This was a mistake, all of her memories of him came flooding back like a painful tsunami. She left him for a reason. Before she could spout her words, someone interrupted them. Just in time.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?" Lucas said, ripping them apart. His eyes were steely on Josh and Maya was glad for a moment that Lucas had come to talk to her, but it took her kissing her crazy ex-boyfriend to do so. That kind of sucked. Also, she was in no mood to talk to Lucas. "Did he attack you, Maya?"

He had never seen Josh, but she knew this was him. He had looked over just in time. Her body was tense and she looked so uncomfortable in his arms it was unbelievably awkward.

Maya gulped down her saliva. "No, I invited him over here," she said, raising her eyebrows in a challenging matter. She wasn't lying.

Lucas's face was struck with disbelief. She had to be lying. He turned his gaze over to Josh and gave him a look of contempt. " _Go_ ," he said loudly. Josh scuttled away like a scared hamster. As if on cue, Misty decided to amble up to the pair. Maya rolled her eyes so far back in her head she could see her skull.

"Lucas," she said, looking at Maya with a glint in her eye. "What are you doing?"

Lucas was so angry, he could barely register his thoughts. "Misty, go away."

"What?" Misty said in a tone of disbelief. Maya would have laughed if she wasn't so angry.

" _Go_ ," he said, using the same tone he did with Josh. Clearly, Misty wasn't used to seeing Lucas angry. Misty scrambled off in some direction, but he didn't pay attention.

"Why are you _acting_ like this?" he yelled at her, holding her arm slightly to keep her from tripping over her feet.

"Like _what_?" she said accusingly. She was glad to talk to him again, but not under these circumstances.

"You're kissing your crazy ex-boyfriend, not talking to me, avoiding me in the halls, barely texting me! What is your problem?"

He was so oblivious it was almost sad. She yanked her arm away from his hand and stared daggers at his face. She was unbelievably mad. "Just go back to Misty, Lucas."

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about."

Maya laughed stiffly, she felt her heart crumble in her chest. She was so mad at him, she could barely process her own thoughts. "Oh, yeah," she chuckled. "It _sure_ seemed like that when I saw you two kissing less than five minutes ago."

"That isn't the same thing as you kissing Josh! He was abusive and crazy! There was a mistletoe!"

" _How_?" she asked him, her hands flailing up in rage. A few bystanders looked at them in confusion, but walked away and grabbed a beer. She laughed, a hard laughed that made Lucas's ears hurt. "There was a mistletoe when I kissed Josh. How is he so unlike Misty?" she asked him, giving him a steely glare. "Misty's worse that Josh," she stated. "Josh never abandoned me. He never gave my number to my father. He may have done horrible things, but at least he doesn't act like a fucking _saint_ when I know he isn't!"

Lucas was at a loss for words, but Maya never stopped speaking.

"I've had my opinions about Misty since day one, but I haven't said anything about her. You know what I think? I think that she used your father against you, then made you all confused, and then took advantage of you when you were weak. It's an abusive pattern, Lucas, why can't you see this?"

"So it's suddenly about me and Misty now?" he yelled angrily, his arms flying above his head. They were seriously fighting now. "She never abused me physically, sexually, and emotionally like Josh did with you!"

"Stop acting protective over me, I am my _own_ person Lucas!" Maya yelled. "Go back to Misty. Go back to your girlfriend who abandoned you and is using you."

"Misty and I aren't dating! Why are you mad about this? We're not dating either!" The words stumbled out of his mouth before he could take them back. He wasn't telling a lie or a truth. He didn't know what they were. Maybe Maya was right, maybe Misty was making him confused and manipulating him.

Maya's breath stopped in her throat. Her eyes slit angrily his way and her left hand's fingernails clenched into her palm. "You know what?" she grumbled. "You're right, Lucas. Why am I even mad? How about you just fuck your emotionally abusive girlfriend and we can still be friends? That sounds like a good idea!" she mocked.

"Okay—I didn't mean it—"

"Yeah, but you said it," she grit through her teeth. "I'm not saying that you're wrong because you're clearly right. We didn't establish a relationship after you totally gobbled my face up the other day. Just thought you had enough of that southern decency to wait until we did until you kissed someone else. Clearly, I was wrong."

"I'm—I'm," Lucas was at a loss for words. He fucked up. "I'm just confused—is all. I don't know what you want me to say."

Maya ran her hand over her face. "Well, let me clear up the confusion, Lucas," she stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Whatever this was? Whatever we had?" she said, wiggling her finger between their bodies to indicate she was talking about them, "It's over. You don't have to choose anymore. Let me make it easy," she grumbled, and with that, her head whipped in the either direction and she was completely swallowed whole by the sea of people bumbling around Riley's apartment.

Misty decided it was time to approach Lucas with a sunny smile. Her hair was tied back tightly in a ponytail and she wore workout leggings and a jacket. It was so _un_ Maya like that Lucas nearly stumbled back on his feet. He could feel his fingers twitching because he missed Maya already.

"What was that about?" Misty asked, putting her hand on his bicep tenderly. Lucas's cheeks rose red and he couldn't think properly. His life was in shambles at this point.

"Just, you know—"

"Maya being Maya?" Misty suggested with a slightly snarky tone in her voice. Lucas didn't like the way Misty talked about Maya.

Lucas gulped his vomit back into his throat. "Uh, yeah, I guess." He paused for a moment. "Maybe I should go talk to her."

"No," Misty said quickly, holding on tighter to his arm. "You've clearly done enough damage. Let the poor girl be, you've made your choice."

Lucas stopped in his tracks. His _choice_? He didn't know he had a choice to make. "What choice?"

Misty laughed at him. "Are you serious? You have to choose between me or Maya."

Lucas's eyebrows furrowed. Was he supposed to choose? What? This was all sudden news to him. "Why do I have to choose? Why can't I have both of you in my life?"

"She's clearly in love with you."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, that couldn't be true—like, at all. Maya hated him, disdained him, had a clear dislike for him. That was completely untrue. "That's not right. You're lying."

"Lucas," Misty laughed, a laugh so different and tender and _fake_ , so unlike Maya's loud an obnoxious laugh that he missed, Lucas struggled to stay on his feet. He saw Maya two minutes ago and his body was already aching to talk to her again. What the fuck was he going through? He had never felt like this before in his life. "Lucas, I adore that you're clueless, but clearly you're oblivious at this point. She's completely in love with you."

Lucas's fingers twitched. Maya was... _in love with him_? No. That couldn't be right. Was—was she in love with him? He remembered the way her skin felt under his fingertips and the way her breath smelled like mint and how she smelled like lemon and her wild curly hair that whipped around her face on a windy day. "She's in love with me?" he asked her, his voice in a whisper she could barely hear him.

"Yes," Misty sighed, shaking Lucas so he'd look at her instead of into space. "But clearly you have no interest in her. That rejection was harsh, even for me. I gotta give it to you, though, that took guts. Better that you got it over with sooner rather than later."

"I—I didn't mean to," he mumbled, shaking his hand away from her grip. "I want to talk to her, I need to talk to her."

Misty looked surprised. "You chose _me,_ Lucas, remember? Not her. What are you doing?"

It took him awhile to understand—but he eventually did. There was a choice. He couldn't be friends with both Misty and Maya, two important people in his life. But that was the problem.

"No, I didn't choose," he stated, looking at Misty with his cold, green eyes. "And if I had to choose, it wouldn't be you Misty." He finally understood what Maya was saying. "You abandoned me at my darkest and you expect me to let you waltz right back into my life? You were unbelievably important to me, two years ago. But now I have Maya, and I don't need you. Not anymore."

Misty looked at him in shock. "Are you leaving me?"

"We weren't ever dating, Misty. I wouldn't let myself be torn over you again. Now I give you a choice. Get over me, or don't. Either way, it doesn't affect me. I _love_ Maya. I now understand that. Thank you for making me see that."

With that, he turned away and was gulped into the sea of people, desperate to find Maya.

* * *

 **im confused about what i will do about week 11/12. i want to finish the weeks so there might be two in one chapter. sorry if this chapter sped kind of fast.**

 **REVIEW AND FAVE!**


	12. week 12

**u guys have NO idea how much ur reviews mean to me. ive been caught up in the middle of a 1000 mile move from my home state across the country so that's pretty fun! anyway i was rereading your reviews and i KID u not that there was a TEAR IN MY EYE. i was so overwhelmed youre all so sweet and even though i hate gmw so fucking much i hate it yall i do i feel like i owe it all to u to finish THIS FUCKING FIC. im gonna be belting out all of the words i have left in my body for y'all**

* * *

 **objective** : **try something new and do it with someone new**

 **RULES:  
1) cannot be someone you know well (you can be acquainted)  
2) must be the opposite sex  
3) don't get creepy, keep it cool**

 **TIME: do one task each week, you have twelve weeks to knock off everything on the list (you don't have to go in order)**

 **TASK LIST: (** _italics_ **means need to be done, bold means** **completed)**  
 _ **1\. hike somewhere neither one of you have hiked**_ _  
_ _ **2\. listen to an entire album by an artist neither one of you have heard of**_ _  
_ _ **3\. guys choice - it's his night for you to experience one of HIS hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **4\. girls choice - it's her night for you to experience one of HER hobbies**_ _  
_ _ **5\. game night - you each choose one game and one movie**_ _  
_ _ **6\. 20 questions - get opinionated!**_ _  
_ _ **7\. get creative! paint fight**_ _  
_ _ **8\. friend swap! hang out with his friends while he hangs out with yours!**_ _  
_ _ **9\. get out of your comfort zone and do something weird. keep it legal, or don't**_ _  
 **10\. picture scavenger hunt! have your friends come up with a list of 10 things to do, and take pictures, you don't have to keep it clean. you have 24 hours**  
 **11\. try doing something neither one of you have ever done! be adventurous**  
 **12\. BONFIRE! invite both groups of friends! (this one MUST be done last)**_

 **good luck. and maybe you'll find something you didn't before.**

* * *

 _Try to do something neither one of you have ever done! Be adventurous_.

Maya stared at the laminated paper and grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk, cutting the smooth paper in half in two quick slices. Their conversation kept replaying in the back of her head like it was on repeat. _Misty and I aren't dating! Why are you mad about this? We're not dating either!_

Okay, he wasn't wrong. But he wasn't right either. Maya didn't know _what_ they were before, but there was something. Like her shitty lamp in her bedroom that flickered on and off when it wanted to. It didn't matter anymore, at least. Now they were nothing. It was Christmas break and Maya could spend the whole break getting over stupid _Lucas_ and his _stupid_ smile and his stupid _eyes_ and—ugh!

God, that boy could have ended the world and she probably still would have forgiven him. She hated him. She _hated_ him. She hated him and his dusty hair and how he smelled like cinnamon and how, when he hugged her, he was strong and comforting and warm and she _hated_ it. It was unfair.

She was fairly certain at this point that the universe especially hated her. Because, if they hadn't, they wouldn't have thrown Lucas into her life. Or Josh. Or the universe would have killed any remotely attractive boy on earth. She would have been happy then, at least. Oblivious and happy and not having her heart wrench up against her chest like she was in constant pain—like her body was physically _aching_ to talk to Lucas and she scoffed at herself because it was pathetic. She was so pathetic it was disgusting.

That's when she knew she would accept the invitation to go over to her father's place for Christmas break.

He emailed her a week earlier, right in the middle of the Misty-and-Lucas-and-Maya-and-what-the-fuck-is-happening drama. So, yeah, Maya didn't bring it up with Lucas. Mainly, he was too caught up with Misty and secondly, he was still recovering from his father's invitation.

Maya knew it was a bad idea. She _knew_ this for a fact. It was evident that visiting your father who was a complete shit was a bad idea. If Lucas's experience was any indication. But, Lucas wasn't going to be there with her this time. That was a worse idea, and she needed her space. She knew that if Lucas had a right mind, he would have apologized by the end of Christmas break or—worse—tried to confront her. She didn't need that, especially after he made it pretty clear that he chose Misty over her. The email was short and sweet and straight to the point. At least she knew where she got that personality trait from.

 **from: kermit38349783  
to: mayaphart**

I want you to meet my family over Christmas.

That was pretty much it. And the words felt cold against Maya's mouth. _His_ family. He had a family that wasn't her anymore. He had children, and a wife, and probably a dog. He probably lived in an apartment and he probably ate Turkey during Thanksgiving and he probably ate roast beef over Christmas. He probably had candy canes in his stocking and he probably brought his children to see Santa.

That's what sucked.

At four, she had experienced more abuse than any one person should ever experience. It was because of her father, her father who was a deadbeat and a bum and took their money and their hearts and _their will to live_ and—

She had lived a long life. Seventeen years and eleven months and she was about to graduate high school, something her mother hadn't even done. And, she was confused.

/

 **December 18th**

"You don't want to do this," Riley said. Riley was still somewhat hungover, more than Maya was. Maya barely drank. She was too sober to do anything last night and staring at Misty and Lucas and Misty and Lucas made her depressed. "Don't do this," she said again. "You'll regret it."

"Probably," Maya responded. "But he lives right under my nose. It's pathetic. And if I want to come back, I can. He's not that far away, Riley."

"Don't do this, please," Riley begged. "Remember what happened with—with Lucas and his dad? Don't you remember?"

Maya quirked an eyebrow in Riley's direction. "Listen to me, Riley," she stated. "I'm done with this bullshit. I'm done with Joshua and I'm done with Lucas and I'm done having _romantic_ feelings. You wouldn't know what this feels like, Riley. Because Charlie's in love with you and you're in love with him and your parents live together and your dad doesn't abuse you and lives only twenty minutes away with another family. So, yeah. Don't tell me what I do or don't want."

Riley sighed loudly, rubbing her hands over her face. "I know—I know you blame me for this—for Lucas—"

"I _don't_ ," Maya cut in loudly. "Don't even _say_ that. I would never blame you. Am I not allowed to be pissed at you on my own accord?"

Riley managed to chuckle softly and crack a smile. "Okay, okay. I get it. Whatever. Just—before you go, let me say something, okay? Don't get mad at me and shut me out like you always do."

"Whatever."

"Lucas—" Maya's breath hitched. "He—listen to me, Maya. Listen to me. You blocked his number, I know that. And I told him not to go over to your place last night so you could figure yourself out. But, listen. He's come to a realization with a lot of stuff. We talked. We talked about it, Maya. Give him a—let him talk to you. Let him explain himself. I just, I don't want you going through something like this—with your dad, I mean—alone. The only other person that understands is Lucas and if you just—just talk to him, okay? Just a little."

Maya's brain was flitting through a hundred different scenarios, all of which ended up with her giving Lucas a concussion. She couldn't talk to him. Not after Misty, or that weird Josh thing. Not after his dad, and the twelve-week shitfest, and just— _everything_. Not after they kissed, and fought, and not after she had realized that maybe she had something bigger than a small crush on him.

"No," Maya responded easily, shoving a shirt in her suitcase. She was being kind of selfish, she could admit that. Her mom was working her ass off just so she could buy Maya a new paint set for Christmas. Lucas was probably a pathetic mess like he usually was, and Maya didn't have the guts or the _will_ to go talk to him. Riley was distraught and overwhelmed, probably blaming herself for what happened between Maya and Lucas. Riley knew it was irrational, but she still did it anyway.

And Maya knew she was being selfish, she knew she was being gross and unfair to Lucas when she decided to accept her father's invitation. She knew that. That didn't stop her, though.

"Does he know that you're going to your dad's?"

"No," Maya said again, shoving some deodorant deep down into her overstuffed suitcase. "No, he _doesn't_ need to know. You know, three months ago, Lucas was a stranger. He was a _stranger_ to me, Riley. And now he's just—he _isn't_ anymore, and that's what makes it worse. I'm not blaming you for this because you really tried to help me get over Josh. But, it's just—just—" Maya choked on her words. She didn't know what to say. What was Lucas to her, now? He wasn't a stranger, he wasn't her acquaintance, he wasn't her _friend_. She would have gone as far as saying he was her best friend, behind Riley, of course, only two weeks before. But now he wasn't, and they weren't dating they just _were_.

"I think I have to do this on my own," she finished, wiping away the tear that streaked down her cheek. "I think—yeah. Just. Maybe I'll talk to him later." She knew she was lying. "I think I'm being kind of dramatic."

"Yeah," Riley responded. "Just a little."

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Maya laughed.

/

Don't get Lucas wrong. He attempted to chase after Maya, not before being struck down by Riley and having vicious words thrown his way out of the brunette. Though, he assumed he deserved it. He called Riley, like, three times a day just to see how Maya was doing. She was doing fine, apparently.

He wasn't.

Just—being away from her was hard enough. His tongue tingled and he felt his bones ache and, really, it was sort of _pathetic_. He clearly acknowledged that he fucked up with Misty. She was manipulative and gross and used his father against him just so she could step back into his life. Maya was there when he was pathetic and sad and happy and she didn't care that he didn't have a father because she didn't have one either.

So, yeah, that sucked.

"You need to talk to her," Riley whispered into the phone. Lucas could barely hear her, though it was probably due to the poor reception at his apartment. "You _need_ to talk to her."

"I thought you told me a few days ago that you'd wring me out dry and feed me to the wolves if I attempted to talk to her?"

Riley groaned and grumbled and Lucas could imagine her rolling her eyes. "Oh, shut up. Listen to me. When I said she was doing fine, I was lying. I was just saying that so you would leave her alone and she could figure out whatever the fuck is happening to her on her own."

"Oh," Lucas said softly. "Oh."

"Yeah, I know," Riley said again. "That isn't the point though. She thinks up is down and left is right. She's going to visit her _dad_ , Lucas. And we all know how well that went with you and your dad."

It wasn't necessarily the same with his dad and her dad. His dad _raped_ his mother and left him for ten years of his life only to come back and continue to abuse his mother. Her dad abused both her and her mom when she was just a toddler. Though, he knew visiting her dad was a bad idea, even if he _had_ changed. Which, he likely hadn't.

From personal experience, all he had known when he saw his father's pathetic face was that he wanted to _pound_ it and watch him bleed. If Maya hadn't been there, he probably would have killed him.

He couldn't imagine Maya going alone to meet her father. She'd see him with a new wife and new children and it would _break_ her heart. "She—what? Why is she doing that? Tell her to stop!"

"Don't you think I tried?" Riley asked. "I'm the Certified Best Friend, and she won't even listen to me. She said she doesn't blame me for the mess I got her in for the twelve-week thing, and I believe her, but she's mad at me for some other reason. So, yeah, she isn't listening to me anytime soon. Her mother is at some Christ retreat so she can't even convince Maya. Like, we're the only important people in her life that she listens to and she won't listen to us anymore. I mean, besides you."

Lucas resisted the urge to laugh. " _Ha_ , that's funny. Like she'll listen to me. She blocked my number and you forbid for me to see her."

"I'm not saying she's going to listen to you," Riley stated. He heard her shuffle around her room. "I'm saying that if she were to want anyone by her side when she confronted her dad, it would be you. You're the only one who _remotely_ understands what she's going through. I can try, but my life has always been easy. Hers hasn't."

Lucas sighed. "She wouldn't want me to go, anyway. She's going to her dads to get away from me."

"Who cares? I am lifting my ban from you. Go talk to her. At least try to pound some sense into her brain! And if that isn't possible, then convince her that she needs company. I'm really worried about her, I know this is something she insists she can do alone, but she can't. She's not weak, I mean, but what would have happened if she hadn't gone with you to meet your father?"

Riley was right. _Of course,_ she was right. Maya couldn't do this alone. She had been there when he needed her most, so it was only fair that he returned the favor, even if he was the last person on earth she wanted to see.

/

She knew it was him when he knocked on her door. _Of course,_ it was him. He was knocking to the tune of Bad Blood by Taylor Swift. Riley probably called him to do an intervention or something. Riley was stupid. Maya was stupid. _Ugh_. The world was stupid.

She didn't want to see him. She knew what would happen if she did, she'd probably start crying in front of him which was pathetic. She can't believe she would _ever_ cry over a stupid boy, a Texan boy with a southern accent nonetheless. She was starting to wonder if she could climb out of her window with her suitcase and catch the subway before Lucas spoke.

"Maya," he said, his voice raspy and it sent electricity up her fingertips. "Maya, come on. Open the door." He waited a second before he spoke again. "Please."

Her body went on autopilot. Her hands twitched as she opened the knob, clearly no self-control left whatsoever. She _hated_ him. She hated his stupid face and his stupid smile. She hated how just his voice could compel her to do anything. He was dangerous.

She hated how her mind was begging to look at his face. Just to see him.

His hair was the normal dusty color it always was. He smelled like cinnamon and he was tall and bulky and his lips were red. God, she _fucking_ hated him. So much. It was unbelievable. "Oh," Maya said meekly. "Hi."

Her mind replayed what happened on that dreadful Saturday. They hadn't completed their challenge, but, whatever. That wasn't that important. He kissed Misty and then she kissed Josh, which was irrational and rash and _stupid stupid stupid_. And then they fought and they she went home and she _cried_.

Pathetic pathetic _pathetic_.

She wanted to touch his skin, kiss his lips, study his eyes and just—she didn't know. She didn't fucking _know_ and her heart was hurting and her stomach erupted in butterflies and she was _so_ mad and _so_ angry and _so_ vengeful and _so_ pathetic.

"Riley—I—just—" Lucas stopped for a breath, his hands were fidgeting. He couldn't look at Maya in the eyes, and that kind of sucked. And hurt. She loved his _stupid_ green eyes. God, she hated him. "Are you okay?"

" _Yes_?" Maya spat, her eyes wide and full of surprise at the question. "Whatever, why are you—why are you _here_? I have somewhere to be."

"No, no," Lucas spoke loudly, grabbing her arm to keep her from walking away. Maya swiftly yanked her arm away from his and shot daggers in his direction with her eyes. "Don't go. Please." He could hear the way his voice cracked, but he didn't care. He didn't even know what to say. "That's why I'm here. Riley called me."

" _Oh_ ," Maya scoffed. "So you couldn't come here on your own volition and instead was forced by my best friend? That's nice."

"No—!" Lucas yelped. "No, that isn't what happened," he quickly explained. This was going south. "I wanted to come—I _wanted_ to come, Maya. I promise. Riley just said she would feed me to the wolves if I did."

Maya stopped to think for a second and breathe. Her mind was in pieces and looking at Lucas didn't help. He looked so distraught and confused and it hurt Maya's heart because, yeah, she probably did this to him. And she hated him, obviously, _obviously_ , but that didn't mean she felt nothing when she looked at Lucas. "If you're here to try to talk me out of seeing my dad, then try again. I wouldn't listen to Riley, so I won't listen to you. I'm mad at you, I'm not _talking_ to you anymore and I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"What would you know?" Maya yelled. "Seriously, Lucas what would you know?" She felt her voice crack. She would _not_ cry in front of Lucas. She willed herself to control her breathing. Think happy thoughts. You and Riley at the beach. Your mom and you reading a book after your dad left and laughing for the first time in what felt like forever. Your grandma taking you out to frozen yogurt. "You little—you _little_ —dweeb-head!"

"I know a lot," he stated as if it were a fact. "I know your favorite color is yellow and I know your favorite book series is the Maze Runner series and I know you secretly like Country music even though you pretend to hate it. I know you weirdly like pet fish and you like to eat tomatoes, and I know a _lot_. I know that you're mad at me but you don't hate me. I want to talk about this."

"There you _go_ ," Maya muttered. "The voice of reason. God, you're fucking annoying." She collected her thoughts for a moment. "Anyway, your trip here was futile. Some stupid redneck Huckleberry that I met three months ago isn't going to convince me _not_ to meet my dad when my own best friend since the day I was born didn't."

"I _didn't_ come here to argue with you. I'm not saying you shouldn't go see your dad. I want to go with you."

That took Maya by surprise. "No."

"Maya."

" _No_."

"Maya!"

"What do you _want_?" she yelled. "Let me be sad in peace, okay? Let me watch Avatar: the Last Airbender and cry. Let me watch Love Actually with Riley and laugh and cry over stupid _shit_ and let me just be _sad_ okay? Am I not allowed to have feelings now? Are my own feelings not validated anymore because of you?"

Lucas's breath hitch. He didn't know how to respond. She was correct, of course. He was controlling and annoying and he had no right to march up to her house and demand that he come with her to see her dad. Especially after what happened at Riley's party. He knows that their problem couldn't have been fixed with a blink of an eye—it was rooted deep in Maya. It was an insecurity that Jessica planted and grew into something that Misty nourished. It wasn't something he could just— _fix_.

Doesn't mean he couldn't try.

"I'm not—I'm not invalidating your feelings," he said quietly. "I would—I wouldn't do that. All I want—I _understand_ where you're coming from. But what you're going through, with your dad and—yes—me, you shouldn't have to go through that alone. Without you, when I confronted my dad," he took a deep breath. "Without you, I don't know what I would have done. I know what it's like. I know what it's like to go through what you're going through. Please just let me be there to support you. _Please_."

Maya clenched her fist and she could feel her nail puncture her skin. It felt like she couldn't breathe, like a million pounds were weighed on her chest. It felt like her whole world had imploded. _God_ , she didn't know what to do. She didn't want Lucas to come, but she didn't want to go alone. She didn't want Riley to go, and those were the only people she had. Her mom didn't even know she was going.

"Stay—stay quiet the entire time," Maya whispered, barely audible. She still couldn't stand his ass, not that she thought she could ever again. But, okay. It was nice. That was nice.

This was nice.

/

Maya stared at the apartment number. She could feel Lucas's warm hand, she could feel its heat radiating off of it. She wanted to touch him, just _touch_ him and be assured that he was there. That's all she needed.

But she didn't.

Apartment 5713. Fifth floor, seventh hall, room thirteen. This was it. Her father was _right there_ , in New York, with a woman that wasn't her mother. He was there, a twenty-minute commute. He could have visited. He could have made amends.

But he didn't.

At least she knew where she got her personality from.

Lucas's words in the car ride replayed through her brain like a vinyl record.

" _I don't know what to say to you that wouldn't make you mad or upset_ ," he insisted, which—did make her mad and upset. Stupid boys. " _But I want you to know that whatever happened with Misty is over. She's over. That part of my life is over and I want to talk to you about it. We don't have to talk now but_ — _please. Let me talk to you about this_." She could have responded. She could have _yelled_ at him.

She didn't.

She could smell the apartment. She could smell mashed potatoes and stinky children and wet toys and—was that a _cat_? Oh god, her father had a fucking _cat_?! Even after he wouldn't let Maya get a fucking _hamster_? What the _fuck_?

Lucas reached his hand out for Maya to grab but she refused.

 _Knock knock_.

A shuffle. A child screaming. A flash of light. And then the door was open.

A woman, she had to be young. Probably in her mid to late twenties. A child peeped out from around her leg and gave Maya a toothless smile. The child, a boy, had Maya's eyes. Maya's nose. Maya's round face.

"You must be Maya!" the woman said. Maya couldn't tell if that was another child of her dad's or his wife. That was gross. That was _gross_.

"Yeah," Maya said uncertainly. She wasn't sure she wanted to be Maya anymore. "I'm Maya."

This girl—she should have been in college. She should have been in a ninety-nine cent pizza shop with her friends laughing at something trivial. This wasn't fair.

"And this—?" she hinted toward Lucas.

"Lucas Friar," Lucas responded, putting out his hand to shake. The woman peered at his hand softly, confused. Lucas dropped it back down after a moment.

"I'm _Tommy_!" the toothless kid said, a wide grin with his tongue sticking out where his two front teeth should be.

Maya didn't have the energy or the will to respond so Lucas did instead. "Hiya there, Tommy," he said, peering down at him and smiling. "I like your name, Tommy. Is this your mommy?"

"Yeah!" the little kid said enthusiastically. "I'm six!" he said again, holding up five fingers.

" _Awesome_!" Lucas said back. He took Tommy's hands and raised all ten fingers, and then raised eight of his own. "I'm eighteen! How cool is that?"

"That's _awesome_!"

"Maya, Lucas," the woman said, interrupting Lucas's and Tommy's conversation. "Please, come in. I'd like you to meet—well... not meet, I mean—you've met—I—just. Sorry," she sighed. "I'm a little nervous. I've never had the pleasure of meeting my husband's eldest child."

Maya smiled at her halfheartedly and ran a hand over her face. This was a bad idea.

Lucas came up to her and whispered in her ear. Maya felt a familiar pit in her stomach that she ignored. "We can leave."

"No," she said easily. It was partly because she wanted to defy Lucas's every word. "I want to stay. I want to see his face."

The woman, who later introduced herself as Angie, shuffled them in the apartment and closed the door. The apartment was homely. It smelled like family and bread and all of the things Maya was never used to. There were toys strewn across the carpet and a child, probably about two, sitting in a high chair and watching some stupid kids show on the TV. Drool was in her mouth.

Maya sighed.

Wow.

"Follow me," Angie said, leading them across the living room into what Maya assumed was the office. Angie opened the door and Maya saw that the room was small and dark. A brown table and brown chairs and a white wall.

And—

Maya breathed.

He looked exactly like Maya. It was uncanny.

"Maya," he said, his voice soft and sweet and so unfamiliar it made a shiver run down her spine. She involuntarily reached out for Lucas's hand and he took it right in his—like it belonged there. He was warm and he was safe and he smelled good and she was glad—unbelievably glad.

Despite her entire shitfuck of emotions stewing up inside of her like an emotional tornado, she was happy. Happy that she had Lucas right here, pressed up against her right side and holding her hand. She was still mad at him, unbelievably mad at him, but _god_. She was lucky.

If anything, there was only one thing she was reassured on. Lucas was there.

Maya breathed out once, and then she spoke. "Kermit," she said, her voice unusually clipped and harsh.

He stood up from his chair and walked around the table, enveloping his _body_ into Maya's. He smelled like musk, and he smelled like her dad. Like—like—years of abuse and he smelled so familiar but he looked so different and she remembered the lingering smell of alcohol and she could smell it on his clothes and on his skin—

Maya never let go of Lucas's hand. She was afraid if she let go, he'd disappear.

Maya didn't hug back. She stood still, her hand clasped so tightly around Lucas's that she was certain his blood flow was being cut off. He could have said something.

But he didn't.

After he let go of Maya, he leaned back, holding onto her shoulders and just _looking_ at her. He had her eyes. He had her nose. Her face. He had her blonde hair.

"Angie," he looked back at his wife before turning back to Maya. "Close your door on the way out." Angie decided to leave, just then. A loud thud resonating through the apartment as she shut the door.

How was Tommy? How was that little toddler? Were they okay?

"I thought you were coming alone," Kermit said once his wife had left. He spared a glance toward Lucas and then looked back toward Maya, smiling. "Are you going to stay over Christmas? I'm sure your—your... _mother_ would be incapable of doing so."

The way he said _mother_ , it sounded almost venomous and terrible, like Katy had poisoned him.

She had done Christmas with her mother only for almost twelve years. How would she not be able to do another one? Why did her father—Kermit—think he was better because he had a fancy new wife and two new children and—and an apartment complex that was pretty and nice and he could afford a desk?

Why did he think he was _better_? When he left Maya when she was six? She was as old as Tommy and he _left_ her? He abused her when she was _two_. Was that girl okay? Was _she_ okay?

"I saw you. For the last time," Maya said suddenly, not letting her brain think. "When I was six. When was that? Twelve years ago, eleven? I haven't seen your face in _eleven_ years."

Maya didn't know what to say anymore. "Okay," Maya said. "Okay, okay."

"I know," Kermit whispered easily as if he had rehearsed this. "I know. I understand. I left you when you needed me, but now I'm back. My life is on track. I have a great new wife, two new children—your half siblings. We can get to know each other, Maya. You and I. We can, we can—like—I don't know—throw catch? Throw a ball? Play ball?"

Maya closed her eyes, leaning away from Kermit's touch and pressing her body against Lucas's. He was warm, like the sun. He smelled like summer and he smiled like the stars and he was big and he could hold you when you were sad and that's when Maya knew she wouldn't be staying.

Maybe she could forgive her father. Probably not.

Maya felt her eyes water. She was tired. She was tired of being sad and tired of drifting away from the people she loved. She was tired of pushing herself into desperate situations.

Lucas and her left without another word.

/

She _cried_. She sobbed in the parking lot, her face buried into Lucas's chest as she wept and _wept_ and wept. Her body was shaking and Lucas's strong arms around her body was the only thing keeping her from falling and falling and falling falling falling. Her eyes felt wet and her nose was runny and she cried and sobbed and wept and whimpered and wailed.

It was stupid. So stupid. She felt so secure in his arms like he was the only thing she was sure of even though he had ripped her heart in half the other day. She hated boys, they were so confusing.

" _Ugh_!" Maya sniffled into Lucas's shirt. "Can I stop crying? I'm going to get dehydrated and I'll look like a raisin."

Lucas had the fucking nerve to _laugh_. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, tightening his grip around her. She buried her face further into his chest, breathing in his sweet cinnamon scent.

She began to love cinnamon.

"S'not your fault," she whimpered. "S'my fault."

"No it isn't," he soothed, laying his cheek down on her head. She was so short compared to him, it was obnoxious. "It's your dad's fault. You have every reason to be upset."

"He has—" Maya choked on her words, her voice slightly muffled due to Lucas's shirt. "—he has this _other_ family. A whole other life outside of mine. His life is fine, his life _is_ fine and mine has been a wreck since the day he left my mom and me. We've had to scramble and beg and he's pathetic. This is pathetic."

"Yeah," Lucas breathed. "Yeah."

/

 **December 21st**

Four days before Christmas, the holiday of family and friends and love and Maya wasn't so sure she had never felt emptier in her entire life.

Her dad—her _dad_. He just was, he is, and he's there. Just being a shitty father with another family twenty minutes away. And her mom, Christ retreat. And Riley, she had a family. Outside of Maya. She had her mom and her dad (the one who stayed), and she had Auggie and yeah, she even had Josh.

Maya had Josh at one time. It seemed like years ago, eons ago. She had him once.

Now she didn't.

And Lucas. She didn't know _what_ the fuck was happening with them. He was there when he needed her, he texted her just to make sure she ate. He sat outside of her bedroom door, telling her stupid _stupid_ Cowboy jokes about Rangers and farms. She hated him more than anyone she had ever hated in her life.

Lucas never pushed too far. He never said anything about what happened on Saturday, even though Maya knew that he wanted to. Desperately. She was confusing herself, and quite honestly, unfairly stringing Lucas along for the ride. He was there and he was easy and she couldn't deny that he was warm and sweet and he smelled like cinnamon.

She hated him.

Then why did his warm embrace around her body feel so good? Why did her hand clutch in the fabric of his shirt as she lied there on her couch, her arms around him and she just _thought_? What possessed her to have these awful and pathetic feelings about a stupid boy from Texas? What made her want to touch his hand and never pull away? What made her want to look in his _stupidly_ green eyes and search them forever?

/

"C'mere," Maya said finally, pointing to Lucas who was lying down on her ground at the base of her bed. "C'mere," she said again.

He listened to her. He always listened to her. He crawled up the bed and he lied down next to her, with his shoes on. He was a weird kid.

He enveloped her body into his and he pulled her close to him, tight and comforting and he was so warm. Warm like the summer and he smelled like the ocean and he smiled like the stars.

She turned her body and buried her face into his chest, just breathing him in. His wonderful cinnamon scent, his hot breath against her head. The way their legs intertwined. It felt like her whole world was on fire—with Josh and Misty and her incompetent father and her mother who was gone and Riley and—but here he _was_. He just _was_.

"Sorry," she said once, her voice muffled. "Sorry that I'm the worst."

"You're not the worst," he responded easily. "You're only a little terrible."

She laughed. He always made her laugh. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him, holding her breath for a moment before she continued. "About—you know—what happened on Saturday? Because—I don't know. Something is different about us. We haven't talked about it and I've just got so much _shit_ going on right now that I can't deal with whatever is happening. Can we talk?"

"Yes," Lucas breathed airily. "Yes, yes yes _yes_."

"I'm not mad at you anymore," she whispered into his shirt. "Not like I was, not on Saturday, anyway. Misty was crazy. No offense."

"None taken."

Maya laughed and she laughed and she laughed. "You were there for me when I needed you most, even though you didn't need to be. Thank you for that. Thank you."

"You were there for me when I needed you most," Lucas responded easily. She could feel him squeeze her tightly as if he was afraid that if he let go, she'd disappear. "I was only returning the favor." Maya laughed again.

Things weren't perfect. Maya wasn't quite sure they would ever be. But she was happy. At least with Lucas, anyway.

/

 **December 24th**

Their hands interlaced, their hearts thumping to the rhythm of Michael Buble. "We never finished week eleven," she murmured helpfully. "Or twelve, for that matter."

"I don't think we could do a bonfire if we wanted to," he said easily, tracing the lines of her hand with his thumb. His breath smelled like advent calendar chocolate.

"Mhmm," she said sleepily.

/

Maya stuck her marshmallow in the fireplace of Riley's apartment. It wasn't a bonfire, and yeah, they skipped week eleven. But here she was, in her-Lucas-Riley-Zay-Farkle-and-his-super-genius-girlfriend-attached-to-his-hip-bubble.

She sat under a green Christmas tree with a million ornaments and Lucas held her hand and she laughed and she laughed and she laughed until she couldn't feel her stomach anymore.

Maybe she was still a little mad. Maybe she was still mad at Lucas or Riley or her mother. But her mother had come home dirty and grimy and with a new paint set so she wasn't mad. And Riley had held her in her arms even after Maya had ignored her for days. And her dad was her dad, stupid as always. And Lucas was there, with open arms and a quick wit to say on his tongue and she _loved_ him.

The feeling enveloped her body as she watched Zay and Riley yell at each other and she watched Charlie from the side braiding Isadora's hair. Maybe she was dramatic.

/

Maya pointed up at the glowing star in her room, one of her hands interlaced with Lucas's and the other fiddling with a necklace Lucas had given her for Christmas.

Things weren't perfect.

But could they ever be?

"That's Perseus," Maya muttered, pointing to a random star alignment in her room. She dragged his hand along with hers. He smelled like cinnamon.

"No, no," Lucas tsked. "That's the North Star! Haven't I taught you anything?" She laughed and she laughed.

"How would you react," she muttered, putting her hand on her chest. His hand was still connected to hers. "How would you react if I told you that I loved you?"

Lucas tapped his chin thoughtfully. He was egging Maya on. He was always making fun of her. "I'd act pretty indifferently."

"Ha-ha."

A pause.

"Do you?"

"Do I what?" she asked.

"Do you love me?"

"Only a little."

And he kissed her. Soft and sweet and it pulled her gut.

Wow. She loved him a _lot_.

"I love you too," he whispered against her lips.

How had she become so lucky?

* * *

 **wow...im done**

 **so this chapter pretty much sucked because it was SO short (6k words) and it made no snese. im sorry i love u ALL ! anyway. this SHIT IS OVA ! sorry if u hated the last chapter i did too but u all deserve the last chapter after 1+ month of no new updates**

 **so yeah they didnt finish the twelve week challenge. they did all except 11 so HAHAHAH they actually failed. but anyway. sorry if u hared this love u ALL BYE !**

 **REVIEW AND FAVE !**


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